In a rather surprising revelation, experienced shooters like Gagan Narang and Jitu Rai were overlooked from the Indian Shooting squad for the upcoming 2018 Asian Games. Not only that, young Mehuli Ghosh who impressed during the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games was also left out. While Narang was shortlisted for the team for the ISSF World Championships which is to be held in Korea but Jitu Rai was failed to make it to the first Tokyo Olympic quota as well.
Asian Games
Rifle
In the two-member Men’s air rifle squad,
Ravi Kumar and
Deepak were selected while the 3-position team will consist of
Sanjeev Rajput and
Akhil Sheoran.
Gagan Narang was probably the most successful shooter on this category winning a total of five medals at the Asian Games 2006 and 2010 which includes a Silver medal in the 2010 edition. Junior World Cup gold medallist
Elavenil Valarivan,
Apurvi Chandela both made a cut to the women’s air rifle team.
Anjum Moudgil and
Gayathri N were shortlisted for the 3-position team while
Ravi Kumar and
Apurvi Chandela will appear for the air rifle mixed team event.
Pistol
Men’s air pistol team will comprise of
Abhishek Verma and
Saurabh Chaudhury while
Shivam Shukla and
Anish Bhanwala will represent the tri-colour in the rapid fire pistol event.
Heena Sidhu and
Manu Bhaker will feature in the women’s air pistol event. Meanwhile,
Rahi Sarnobat and Manu Bhaker will be a part of the sports pistol event.
Abhishek Verma and Bhaker will be in action for the mixed team event.
Shotgun
Ankur Mittal and
Shardul Vihaan were selected for the men’s trap category while the trap team will see the likes of
Manavjeet Singh Sandhu and
Lakshay while
Sheeraz Sheikh and
Bajwa will compete in the skeet event. In the women’s team,
Shreyasi Singh and
Seema Tomar will shoot in the trap event while Shreyasi along with
Varsha Varman will participate in the double trap.
Ganemot Sekhon and
Rashmmi Rathod have been summoned for the skeet event while Lakshay and Shreyasi will team up for the mixed event.
Also read: Jaspal Rana: Showing the way for the future of Indian Shooting World Championships
Rifle
Gagan Narang makes it to the team in the prone and air rifle event,
Chain Singh will feature in the prone, and
Swapnil Kusale who makes it to the 3 positions event was also added to the list. In the women’s team,
Tejaswini Sawant will be a part of the prone event,
Shreya Saksena in the 3 positions and prone event, while
Mehuli Ghosh has been selected for the air rifle event.
Anjum Moudgil will represent India in all 3 categories.
Pistol
Shahzar Rizvi and
Om Prakash Mitharval will join
Abhishek Verma in air pistol, while youngster
Saurabh Chaudhary fails to make it to the senior squad.
Gurpreet Singh,
Vijay Kumar and
Amanpreet Singh will form the standard pistol squad.
Shivam Shukla, Anish Bhanwala and
Gurpreet are three selected for the rapid fire pistol team.
Shweta Singh has been added to the sports pistol squad with
Manu Bhaker and
Heena Sidhu while
Sarnobat,
Bhaker and
Sidhu will all be a part of the sport pistol squad.
Abhishek Varma and
Manu Bhaker and will feature in the mixed team event along with
Shahar Rizvi and
Heena Sidhu.
Shotgun
Zoravar Singh Sandhu will join the men’s trap team along with
Lakshay and Manavjit Singh while
Mohammad Abas will be the third member of the double trap squad. The women’s trap team will feature
Varsha Varman, Shreyasi Singh, and Seema Tomar. In the mixed team event, Lakshya will pair up with Shreyasi Singh while Manajit Singh will shoot alongside Seema Tomar.