Shooting
India's medal prospects at the Tokyo Olympics in shooting
India is sending its strongest shooting team to Tokyo Olympics. India might even achieve its second Olympic gold in the event.
Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary
Tokyo Olympics 2020, the moment the world has been waiting for is almost here. Records will be broken, dreams will come true, as the Indian team is departing for Tokyo.
The Indian shooting team's performance is one of the most awaited to watch. The team is India's strongest contingent in the history of the Olympics. From young pistol shooters to mixed pair-ups let's have a look at India's potential medalists for Tokyo Olympics 2020.
Saurabh Chaudhary- 10m air pistol
Saurabh Chaudhary is the favorite Indian to clinch the Olympic gold medal. 19-year-old has everything in his favor from stats, technique, and fans support.
Even in the toughest matches against his seniors he has shown his consistent form. Since 2018, Chaudhary has reached podium finish in many matches.
Saurabh is known for his calm attitude, necessary for Olympics. He was also the only Indian mentioned in the list of athletes to watch out for in Times magazine.
Aishwary Pratap Singh- 50m rifle, 3positions
While the entire team is a power pack of world champions, Aishwary has been shinning in 2021. In the first world cup of the year, Pratap clinched the gold medal. The 20-year-old defeated world champions to climb up in the world rankings.
The surprising moment came when the rifle shooter qualified for finals in the 10m event in Croatia, in which he is not part of the Tokyo team. However, he won't compete in the event, it is a preview of his powerful form before the mega games.
Rahi Sarnobat- 25m pistol women event
Rahi made a comeback after defeating her injury. Since then her career has been in the upward direction. This year has been rewarding for Saranobat as she clinched the gold medal at the recently concluded ISSF World Cup.
Surprisingly, she had a good lead against her counterparts and wasn't even aiming for the medal. Rahi was just checking out her game and trying new techniques before the mega-event. Rahi's picture at the Olympic podium seems optimistic.
Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker- 10m air pistol mixed team
The dynamic duo has been dominating this event since its inclusion in world cups. With their past medal-winning runs, predictably, they will reach the podium at Tokyo.
While individually also they are terrific performances, together they make a powerful duo. It's incredible that they also hold the world record in this event.
Divyansh Singh Panwar and Elavenil Valarivan- 10m air rifle mixed team
While the duo was not been able to reach the podium in their individual events in Croatia, together they can be the winners.
Divyansh and Elavenil have been world top shooters since 2019. The terrific rifle shooters have shot top scores in the past, and they can hopefully do it at Tokyo again. They even clinched the gold medal at ISSF World Cup, New Delhi in the mixed team event.
While these four are the most realistic chances for India, we can't deny the unpredictability of the sport. Anyone from the 15 Indian shooters can make it to the podium if they reach their peak performances.
10m air pistol team can surprise with more than one medal, whereas even 10m air rifle team can reach the podium. Hopefully, with such strong teams, we will see many Indians reaching the Olympic finals which is also not a cakewalk.
