Tokyo 2020
Why Shooting is India's best bet to win gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics?
Shooting remains India's best bet to win gold if they are to surpass their highest ever tally of six medals achieved during the 2012 London Games.
Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary at ISSF World Cup in New Delhi (Source: Burhaan Kinu/Hindustan Times)
The Tokyo Olympics is just three-and-a-half months away. With the kind of talent India possesses and the number of athletes who have already qualified for the Games, sports fans in the country are expecting this to be India's most successful Olympic campaign ever.
While there are quite a few athletes across various sports who could bring home Olympic medals from Tokyo, shooting remains India's best bet if they are to surpass their highest ever tally of six medals achieved during the 2012 London Games.
Why is Shooting India's best bet at Tokyo?
The answer is pretty simple. The talent pool India possesses currently is unmatched. The likes of Saurabh Chaudhary, Manu Bhaker, Abhishek Verma and others are simply the best in the business.
The following table should make it clear as to why shooting has to be India's trump card at the Tokyo Olympics.
| Shooter | Event | World Ranking |
| Divyansh Singh Panwar | Men's 10m Air Rifle | 2 |
| Abhishek Verma | Men's 10m Air Pistol | 1 |
| Saurabh Chaudhary | Men's 10m Air Pistol | 2 |
| Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar | 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men | 2 |
| Elavenil Valarivan | Women's 10m Air Rifle | 1 |
| Anjum Moudgil | Women's 10m Air Rifle | 3 |
| Yashaswini Deswal | Women's 10m Air Pistol | 1 |
| Manu Bhaker | Women's 10m Air Pistol | 2 |
| Chinki Yadav | Women's 25m Pistol | 1 |
| Rahi Sarnobat | Women's 25m Pistol | 2 |
If the world rankings and their performances in the past three years, where these shooters clinched medals for fun, are anything to go by then anything less than three medals would be a big disappointment.
Add to this their recent form, where India absolutely dominated the ISSF World Cup in Delhi with a total of 30 medals, including 15 golds, and you realise why banking on the shooters for Olympic glory is not really a bad idea for India.
There would be immense pressure on the Indian shooters when they enter the Tokyo Olympics. But, it is this pressure situations where champions are made and the sports fans in India are surely waiting for their next Olympic Champion; waiting for someone to emulate their hero, Abhinav Bindra.
