“It feels great to be in the team after four long years” - Skeet shooter Sheeraz Sheikh elated after selection for Paris Olympics 2024 qualifiers

By SC Desk

Modified Mar 28, 2024 14:41 IST

Sheeraz Sheikh. (Credit: Sheeraz Sheikh/X) — Sheeraz Sheikh (Credits: Sheeraz Sheikh/X)

Indian skeet shooter Sheeraz Sheikh is all set to train in Italy under the guidance of veteran coach Ennio Falco before moving to Doha for the World Olympic Qualifiers, scheduled for April 19 to 29. Falco is a former Italian shooter and Olympic champion.

In the 12-member shotgun squad announced by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) for the final Paris Games qualifying campaign, alongside Sheeraz, there are Commonwealth Games gold medallist Shreyasi Singh, two-time Olympian Mairaj Ahmad Khan and World Cup winner Ganemat Sekhon.

Back in the mix, Sheeraz feels elated to as he would be aiming to make it big in the qualifying event after training in Italy. Notably, India can still secure four more shotgun quotas, one each in men's and women's trap and skeet events, in April 2024.

"It feels great to be in the team after four long years. I had three good selections and the top score was 122/125," Sheeraz told The Times of India.

"Now I will be training in Italy with Ennio Falco to work on the technical part of the game and I will be flying to world Olympic qualifiers from there," he went on to add.

Furthermore, Sheeraz also shared his excitement to be in the range with senior pro-Mairaj Ahmad Khan and youngster Angad Bajwa.

"Looking forward to it as I will be sharing the team with Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Angad Bajwa. After the world qualifiers we have three more competitions - World Cup Baku, World Cup Lonato and Green Cup followed by a 10 days camp in Italy," he said.

"We already have Anantjeet Singh Naruka in the team. He won't shoot world qualifiers as he already has the quota, he will be joining the team from the Baku World Cup," he added.

Interestingly, Sheeraz dreamt of becoming a leg-spinner and he was introduced to the game of cricket at the age of 12. He went on to represent UP at the state level in U16 cricket and played alongside Piyush Chawla and Karn Sharma.