Olympic selection trials for shooting to be held at two venues in May

Shooting trials for the selection of the 2024 Paris Olympics squad will be conducted on two venues in May confirmed the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).

The dates for the trials will be May 3 (pistol events) and 23 May (rifle events) at New Delhi and Bhopal respectively.

A statement issued by the governing body for shooting sport in the country said that the first set of trials will take place at the Karni Singh ranges here from May 3, while the second set of trials will be held at Bhopal from May 23.

A total of four trials of two sets each will be held and the best three scores will be considered for arriving at the Final Average Score (FAS) to select the squad for the Olympics.

As per the new criteria after amendment for selecting the squad for Paris, those who have earned the Olympic quota for the country in 50m rifle and 25m pistol will have two bonus points added to their Final Average Score, while in 10m air rifle and air pistol, one bonus point will be added to their FAS.

NRAI amended its 2022 policy earlier this month to include the new provisions.

The new policy made in 2022, and subsequently amended on November 15 this year, has done away with the bagful of points Olympic quota winners, Asian Games, World Championships, World Cups, and Asian Championships medallists used to get before the 2020 Tokyo Games.

The NRAI has also fixed the eligibility criteria for shooters to compete in the May 3 and 23 trials.

The criteria include all Olympic quota holders/deemed quota holders, shooters with a domestic ranking of 1-3, and who have participated in two ISSF Championships, besides a few other categories, who will be eligible to participate in the Olympic selection trials.

A 'deemed quota holder' is one who was eligible to win a quota but was not awarded as India had already earned a maximum of two quotas.