What are the rules of Shooting? Categories, Indians at Tokyo Olympics

Shooting has been segregated into three disciplines in Olympics. Rifle and pistol are used by athletes for shooting at stationary targets in range and shotgun which involves hitting moving targets. In rifle and pistols there are four guns: 50m rifle, 10m air rifle, 25m rapid fire pistol and 10m air pistol.

After monumental performances since the last Olympics, especially in the last two years, India has a record number of quotas for the Tokyo Olympics counting to 15.

List of people who have already qualified for India at the Tokyo Olympics for shooting are: Anjum Moudgil, Apurvi Chandela, Saurabh Chaudhary, Rahi Sarnobat, Abhishek Verma, Divyansh Singh Panwar, Manu Bhaker, Yashaswini Singh Deswal, Sanjeev Rajput, Deepak Kumar, Chinki Yadav, Tejaswini Sawant, Aishwary Singh Tomar, Angad Bajwa and Mairaj Ahmad Khan.

However, the final word on who gets to travel to the Games is yet to be decided by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).

Events, Rules, Gun Specifications and Scoring for Shooting Events

50m Rifle 3 Positions (Men/Women)

A total of 40 shots are taken from positions of kneeling, pruning and standing. Eight finalists are decided in a limited time frame of 2 hours and 45 minutes, who will later compete for medals over one hour. The rifle for this event would be single-loaded with 5.6-millimetre calibre. Rules let each participant have 40 shots from three positions, standing, kneeling and prone. Target to be hit has 10 concentric circles at a 50m distance. A point tally over the series of shots is tallied and the top eight move to the medal round.

10m Air Rifle (Men/Women)

Unlike the 50m, here one participant fire 60 shots within a timeframe of one hour and fifteen minutes.

10m Air Rifle Mixed Team

One female and one male have 40 shots per head, and the stipulated time to finish the qualification round is within 50 minutes, through which candidates move to the next round.

25m Rapid Fire Pistol (Men)

As raw it gets the intensity from real life is adapted and implemented. Over a period of eight, six, and four seconds, the athlete has to fire a series of shots on target from a standing position. The gun used in this event is a 5.6 calibre Pistol with a five-shot magazine. The qualification round features two rounds of 30 shots each. Eight shooters qualifying for the medal round are determined by a tally of points.

25m Pistol (Women)

A women-only event, comprising 60 shots, split evenly between rounds of precision shooting and rapid shooting, where only one hand can be used. Similar to the rapid-fire pistol rounds, there are two qualifying rounds of 30 shots each.

10m Air Pistol (Men/Women)

The pistol used in this event is a single-loaded pistol with 4.5-millitere calibre. Rules are almost a replica of 10m Air Rifles. But categories for this event are allotted to Men's individuals, Women's individuals and Mixed team. Under the individual category, each shooter is given 60 shots over a span of 1 hour and 15 minutes. 8 members progress through to the medal round.

10m Air Pistol Mixed Team

In a mixed team, each member gets 40 shots and 5 teams progress to finals.

Trap (Men/Women/Mixed Team)

A clay shooting event, where clays are randomly released and the player shifts between five shooting stations arranged in a line. Each player has to take two shots per released targets. The gun used in this event is a shotgun of 12 gauge having 18.5 millimetres calibre. In mixed team trap events, every shooter fires 75 shots in three rounds of25 shots each. Six teams, similar to skeet move to medal rounds.

Skeet (Men/Women)

Another clay shooting event, where a total of 25 targets are taken, but only one shot is allowed per target and round. The gun used in this event is a shotgun of 12 gauge having 18.5 millimetres calibre. The clay used as target swifts past over 100kms. From a 'house' where the clay is disposed two targets are flown into the shooting area from both left and right. Six best shooters advance to medal rounds depending on points scored.

Out of the nine golds that India have won at a Summer Olympics event, only one reign in an event other than Field hockey. That came as a boon from the all adored Abhinav Bindra after a strenuous 28-year run.

Bindra won his gold medal for shooting 10m Air Rifle Final Men at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, overcoming the likes of Zhu Quinan from China and Henri Hakkinen of Finland. Came out of the final round, winning by just 0.8 points in parity to the Chinese, out of sheer technicality.

Abhinav Bindra still plays an influential role in India's sport policies. He even was awarded one of the country's biggest honours, the 'Padma Bhushan'. The medals tally in his career remains over 150 in a span of 22 years.

ISSF World Cup held in Delhi reiterated dominance by the Indians, clubbing 30 medals including 15 golds. Team events in men's, women's and mixed were the ones that most medals came from. Even then, as one step further, India still needs medals in individual events, to complete the progression that Bindra has paved for this great country.

Shooting at the Tokyo Olympics remain one of India's most hopeful events to bag some medals. Optimism and high hopes might not be a good mix, but the youngsters from India has shown promising performances, which proves them as eligible medal contestants for Tokyo.

Again, with high expectations, high competitiveness, it'll be a watch worth every penny at the Tokyo Olympics.