Indian rifle and pistol shooting squad for Paris Olympics announced

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) announced the 15-member Indian rifle and pistol shooting squad for the 2024 Paris Olympics on Tuesday.

There were no major surprises. The women’s pistol ace, two-time Olympian Manu Bhaker, would be the only athlete participating in more than one individual event, the women’s 10m air pistol and the women’s 25m pistol.

The team has eight shooters in the rifle discipline and seven in the pistol. All the team members along with the coaches and support staff are currently in a camp in Volmerange-Les-Mines, France, mainly aimed at acclimatization and hard training before they take a two-week break back home.

India has earned 21 quotas in Shooting, a record, for the upcoming Paris 24 Olympic Games. Besides all 16 possible shots at a medal, in eight individual rifle and pistol events, India will also have a record five starts across the four individual shotgun events. In addition, India will also field five mixed teams, two each in rifle and pistol and one in shotgun.

NRAI stuck to its selection policy of Trials and the points accumulated from it to select the team. Several requests from quota winners and experienced International shooters were made for a chance after missing out on the top two berths in the trials.

Notable exclusions from the squad are former World Champion Rudrankksh Patil and Asian Games medalist Palak Gulia.

Talking about the team Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo, Senior Vice President, NRAI, said, “The selection committee met and deliberated at length. After deliberating at length, we feel we have selected the best team on current form as per merit and sticking to the policy. We are confident that everything has been put in place for the team to deliver. Given our depth in Rifle and Pistol, some very good shooters are not part of the squad. However, they will have a chance to make a comeback. We wish the squad all the very best.”

The Shotgun team will also be announced soon after the ongoing Lonato International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup. NRAI will also be looking to exchange the spare quota place which has freed up because of Manu making it to two events, appropriately as per ISSF rules.

Indian Rifle Squad for 2024 Paris Olympics:

Men's 10m Air Rifle- Sandeep Singh, Arjun Babuta

Women's 10m Air Rifle- Elavenil Valarivan, Ramita

Women's 50m Rifle 3P- Sift Kaur Samra, Anjum Moudgil

Men's 50m Rifle 3P- Swapnil Kusale, Aishwary Tomar

Indian Pistol Squad for 2024 Paris Olympics:

Men's 10m Air Pistol- Sarabjot Singh, Arjun Cheema

Women's 10m Air Pistol- Manu Bhaker, Rhythm Sangwan

Women's 25m Pistol- Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh

Men's 25m Pistol- Anish Bhanwal, Vijayveer Sidhu