With all the COVID protocols in place, all the team-sporting actions have gradually resumed in India. However, a proper framework needs to be established for individual-sporting events to flourish. The Indian shooters will miss out on a chance to participate in the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Changwon, South Korea (in April). A top official of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) stated that the the 14-Day mandatory quarantine was the reason for the withdrawal of the Indian team since they won't be able to train for 14 days before the tournament.
International tournaments help in preparing for major events such as the Olympics. They not only provide a platform to improve their game but also help them in rectifying mistakes. But scaling them against the inactive 14-days that limits their match practice has been taken into consideration. Luckily, India is scheduled to host a combined World Cup from March 18 to 29 at the Karni Singh Shooting (KSSR) in Delhi. This World cup would witness the participation of 280 shooters and 101 officials from 42 nations. It will be one of the biggest events to be held in India since the outbreak of the pandemic.
Top European countries like Hungary, Italy, United Kingdom, and France (2024 Olympic hosts), along with Iran, UAE, Qatar, Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Korea, Singapore, and the USA are among the 42 nations that have confirmed their participation. However, countries like China, Chinese Taipei, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Russia, Vietnam, Japan, Kuwait, Germany, Greece, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and few other countries have opted out of the tournament due to the COVID-19 situation. The 14-member British team will have to follow 14-day strict quarantine upon their arrival due to the possibility of a new virus variant infection. A separate floor in the team hotel has been booked for them and the British Shooting Federation will bear all charges.
(Picture courtesy: fiercehealthcare.com)
To ensure the safety of staff, NRAI has requested access to the vaccine for the 300 Indian technical staff. In their letter to the highest officials of Health and Sports Ministries, NRAI has requested an emergency vaccination drive that can administer the first dose (either Covaxin or Covishield) on 18-19 February and the second dose from March 16-17 to ensure a 28 days gap between two doses. The list of people who would be receiving the vaccine includes members from the organizing committee, NRAI's selection committee technical officials and jury, KSSR's administrative staff, and those engaged with maintaining the range, like CPWD engineers and horticulture personnel. However, the vaccination drive would be kept optional.
The NRAI announced a 57-member Indian team for the Delhi World Cup:
The team will include the following members:
Men:
10m air rifle: Divyansh Singh Panwar, Arjun Babuta, Deepak Kumar, Pankaj Kumar, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar.
50m rifle 3-position: Sanjeev Rajput, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Niraj Kumar, Swapnil Kusale, Chain Singh.
10m air pistol: Saurabh Chaudhary, Abhishek Verma, Sarabjot Singh, Ravinder Singh, Shahzar Rizvi.
25m rapid fire pistol: Vijayveer Sidhu, Gurpreet Singh, Anish Bhanwala, Arpit Goel, Adarsh Singh.
Trap: Kynan Chenai, Lakshay Sheoran, Prithviraj Tondaiman, Zoravar Singh Sandhu, Namanveer Singh Brar.
Skeet: Angad Vir Singh Bajwa, Mairaj Ahmad Khan, Gurjoat Singh Khangura, Karam Sukhbir Singh, Amrinder Singh Cheema.
Women:
Air rifle: Elavenil Valarivan, Anjum Moudgil, Apurvi Chandela, Shriyanka Sadangi, Nisha Kanwar.
Rifle 3-position: Tejaswini Sawant, Sunidhi Chauhan, Anjum Moudgil, Gaayathri Nithyanandam, Shreya Saksena.
Air pistol: Manu Bhaker, Yashaswini Singh Deswal, P. Shri Nivetha, Shweta Singh, Esha Singh.
Sports pistol: Manu Bhaker, Rahi Sarnobat, Chinki Yadav, Neeraj Kaur, Abhidnya Patil.
Trap: Rajeshwari Kumari, Shreyasi Singh, Manisha Keer, Kirti Gupta, Neeru.
Skeet: Ganemat Sekhon, Parinaaz Dhaliwal, Karttiki Singh Shaktawat, Darshana Rathore, Zahra Mufaddal Deesawala.
Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary after winning 10m air pistol mixed event in 2019 (via India Today)
Indian shooters had a dominating run in 2019, winning medals in almost all the categories. The selection for the Olympic-bound team would depend on the World Cup in New Delhi. There will be one last International World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, scheduled to be conducted in June before the Tokyo Olympics.
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