Ahmedabad, Sep 16 (Shooting News) Dronacharya awardee Jaspal Rana is hoping that the 36th National Games will unearth fresh shooting talent, with several youngsters getting the opportunity to take on the more established stars.

The National Games will be held in Gujarat from September 29 to October 12.

"Not everyone gets to compete in national events and eventually for the country. But this is where you spot talent. Even state meets can throw up fresh talent. I am sure by the end of the National Games, we will see a few new faces who might shine for India in the future," the multiple-time Asian Games gold medallist said.

Rana has been instrumental in shaping the careers of several youngsters, including Manu Bhaker, Saurabh Choudhary and Anish Bhanwala while working with the junior national squad.

As someone who first won laurels for India at the 1994 Junior World Championship in Milan before going on to excel in the Hiroshima Asian Games later that year, the now 46-year-old Rana feels the National Games will offer the right exposure to all participants.

"We do not have the Asian Games this time in Hangzhou, so it is a great opportunity for all our athletes to come together and showcase their skills in Gujarat.

"It is not about just shooting. There are so many different disciplines at the National Games and if the cream of talent can compete with the lesser experienced players, it will be very good," he said.

Rana himself is keen to watch all the shooting action during the Games as he firmly believes that watching any competition is a learning experience even for coaches.

"The talent base (in shooting) is very strong and we have seen how youngsters grab the chance which comes their way. I would like to see India's best shooters come to Gujarat and entertain the spectators. There is also an opportunity for younger marksmen to learn from the seniors," he said.

Rana also pointed out that the atmosphere in multi-discipline games makes it an experience worth cherishing.

"I used to enjoy representing the country during my days. It is this passion and brotherhood which will be seen in action at the National Games as well. I am very confident that the Gujarat government will do a great job in hosting the Games," he added. 

Also Read : ISSF Worlds: Varun Tomar replaces Sarabjot Singh in junior team

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New Delhi, Sep 3 (Shooting News) Sarabjot Singh has been replaced by Varun Tomar in the 10m air pistol Indian junior team for the upcoming ISSF World Championships as the former will turn senior just before the premier tournament.

In the Indian squad announced on Friday, Sarabjot was part of the 10m air pistol junior men's team alongside Samrat Rana and Sagar Dangi.

However, having realised that Sarabjot will turn 22 before the start of the tournament, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) replaced him with Tomar.

As per the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF), junior shooters are those who will be under the age of 21 on December 31 of the competition year.

Olympic silver medallist Vijay Kumar will be competing in his biggest tournament since the London Games podium as he was on Friday picked in the Indian squad for the World Championships.

The NRAI announced a 48-member Indian rifle and pistol squad for the tournament scheduled from October 12-25 in Cairo, Egypt. 

Also Read : Olympic silver medallist Vijay returns for Worlds, India name 48-member squad

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New Delhi, Sep 2 (Shooting News) Olympic silver medallist Vijay Kumar will be competing in his biggest tournament since the London Games podium as he was on Friday picked in the Indian squad for the upcoming ISSF World Championships.

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) announced a 48-member Indian rifle and pistol squad for the tournament scheduled from October 12-25 in Cairo, Egypt.

Four years after his last international tournament, the London Olympics silver medallist pistol shooter had returned to the national squad in April this year.

Kumar, who finished second in 25m rapid fire pistol in the 2012 Olympics, had taken a break due to a chronic shoulder injury.

Posted at the Himachal Pradesh police headquarters (PHQ) in Shimla as a deputy superintendent of police, Vijay had made a comeback to competitive shooting last year after a gap of five years, "starting from zero", nearly a decade after crowning himself in glory by winning the silver in London.

A five-time Commonwealth Gold medallist, Vijay had left the Army to join Himachal Pradesh Police in 2017.

A 24-member shotgun squad was already announced earlier for the Shotgun World Championships beginning in Osijek, Croatia, from September 19.

The current team is full of World Championship first-timers with Olympic silver medallist Vijay and silver medallist from the previous World Championships, Anjum Moudgil, bringing in the experience.

The experienced campaigners in the squad include the likes of Olympians Manu Bhaker, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Elavenil Valarivan, besides Divyansh Singh Panwar, who has qualified in the junior section.

Shiva Narwal, who will be leading the Indian trio in the men's 10m air pistol, is not yet 17 and will be in his first Worlds.

Others like Swapnil Suresh Kusale, who is among the country's top rifle shooting exponents, particularly in small-bore, will also be featuring in his first World Championships.

Swapnil was in form at the Baku ISSF World Cup stage earlier this year, where he won a first individual world cup stage gold, a silver in men's 3P as well as a mixed 3P gold.

Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar on the other hand will also be competing in his first Worlds and his rise in men's rifle 3 positions in the last couple of years has been nothing short of phenomenal.

The ISSF World Championships is the pinnacle of the sport. 

Also Read : Divya wins women's air pistol T6 event at national trials

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New Delhi, Aug 30 (Shooting News) Karnataka's Divya T S won the women's 10m air pistol T6 event at the national shooting trials here on Tuesday.

Divya beat Haryana's Rhythm Sangwan 16-12 in the final to claim the gold medal at the Karni Singh Shooting Range (DKSSR) here.

Rhythm, however, won both the youth and junior women's air pistol T6 trials to land a double.

In the junior women's final, Rhythm beat UP's Divanshi Dhama 16-8 to clinch the gold, while in the youth final, she beat yet another UP girl Mansi Anand 16-2.

Neha of Uttar Pradesh had topped the 283-strong qualifying field in the women's air pistol with a score of 582, while Divya and Rhythm had finished second and third with 576 and 575 respectively.

Also Read : Patil shocks Tomar to top men's 10m air rifle trials

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Bhopal, Aug 29 (Shooting News) Eighteen-year-old Rudrankksh Patil upset Tokyo Olympian Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar to win the men's 10m Air Rifle T6 National Shooting trials here on Monday.

Patil and Tomar finished first and second in the eight-man semi-final stage, with scores of 261.9 and 261.3 respectively, to set themselves up for the gold medal decider.

In the final, Patil, a Junior World Championship silver medallist and junior World Cup gold medallist, edged out Tomar with a 16-6 victory at the MP State Shooting Academy Range.

Earlier, in the 392-strong qualifying field, Rudrankksh shot 630.2 to finish second behind the Air Force’s Ravi Kumar, who shot a round of 630.7. Aishwary shot 629.4 to finish fourth.

Rajasthan's Yash Vardhan was the other star of the day, registering a double with wins in both the junior men’s and youth men’s 10m air rifle T6 trials.

In the juniors, he beat Rudrankksh 17-7 in the final while in the youth section he overcame Andhra’s Maddineni Umamahesh with a tighter 17-15 scoreline.

At the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range in Delhi, Kashish Mehra of Haryana won the men's 25m centre fire pistol T5 trials with an aggregate score of 587. 

Also Read : Ruchita Vinerkar wins women's 10m air pistol T5 title in selection trials

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New Delhi, Aug 28 (Shooting News) Ruchita Vinerkar of the Railways claimed the women's 10m air pistol T5 gold in the national shooting selection trials at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range here on Sunday.

She shot 16 in the gold medal match to edge out Divya TS of Karnataka, who shot 14.

Ruchita finished fourth in the qualifiers in the 294-strong field with a score of 576 after the allocated 60 shots. Divya was seventh with 574, while Maharashtra's Sakshi Suryavanshi topped with a score of 580.

In the top-eight semi-final stage, Ruchita topped with 251.1, while Divya was second with 248.7, elevating both to the gold medal shootout. Haryana's Rhythm Sangwan was fourth with 248.4.

Haryana, however, claimed both the top spots in the junior women's T5 10m air pistol with Suruchi defeating Rhythm 17-15 in yet another close final.

Suruchi had shot 568 to claim the seventh qualifying spot, while Rhythm was second with a score of 579.

In the Youth women's 10m air pistol T5 category, the gold went to Haryana again with Shikha Narwal getting the better of Chandigarh's Sainyam, 17-9 in the final. 

Also Read : Ruby Tomar, Aishwary Tomar win in selection trials

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New Delhi, Aug 26 (Shooting News) Ruby Tomar of Punjab won the women's 25m pistol T6 national shooting selection trial here on Friday, even as Olympian Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar claimed the men's 10m air rifle T5 trial in Bhopal.

Ruby earned a nerve-wracking 24-23 victory over state-mate Simranpreet Kaur Brar. She had qualified fourth with a score of 578 in the first round, while Simranpreet was fifth with 577.

In the top-eight semi-final stage, Simranpreet topped the first semis with an effort of 13 to make the finals while Ruby finished on top of the second semis with 11 hits to her name.

They were joined by Abhidnya Ashok Patil and Surabhi Pathak in the medal round. Abhidnya won bronze eventually, with 15 hits in the final.

In Bhopal, Aishwary Tomar dominated the Navy's Niraj Kumar to win the T5 men's 10m air rifle final 17-5. Niraj had topped the top-eight stage though with a score of 264.1, while Aishwary was second with 262.5.

In the 60-shot qualification, Aishwary had topped the 393-man field with an effort of 630.9.

Ashi Chouksey of Madhya Pradesh registered a double in Bhopal as she won both the women's and junior women's 50m rifle prone T5 trials. She shot 624.8. 

Also Read : Ayushi Podder claims women's 50m rifle 3 positions trial

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Bhopal/New Delhi, Aug 25 (Shooting News) West Bengal's Ayushi Podder won the women's 50m rifle 3 positions T6 trials at the national selection trials here on Thursday.

She beat the Army Marksmanship Unit's Priya 16-8 in the gold medal match.

Ayushi was in good form on the day, topping the qualifiers with a score of 587 and then also topping the last eight stage with an effort of 402.3.

Priya shot 401.5 to follow her to the gold medal match. Veteran Lajja Gauswami of Gujarat was third with a semi-final effort of 400.1 after finishing seventh in qualification with 582.

The junior women's 3P final was an all-Haryana affair with Ramita outgunning Nischal 17-9 in the gold medal match. The latter topped the qualification with 582 and also the semi-finals with an effort of 404.7.

Ramita was fifth in qualification with 574 and second in the semis with 395.9. Gujarat claimed the bronze here, too, as Heena Jayeshbhai Gohei shot 395.4 in the semis to finish behind the top two.

In the men's 3P T5 trials, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar will fight it out with Pratham Bhadana in the final. Pratham also made the junior men's 3P T5 final alongside Dhanush Srikanth.

In Delhi, Ravinder of the Air Force won the men's 50m pistol T6 competition with a score of 562. Abhinav Choudhary of Rajasthan was second with 560 while the Navy's Kunal Rana was third with 559.

Abhinav however won the junior men's 50m pistol T6 with a score of 560 with the Army's Ajinkya Ravindra winning silver with a score of 549. Naved Choudhary of Uttar Pradesh claimed bronze with 545.

In the women's junior 50m pistol T6 trials, Delhi's Khushi Kapoor won gold with a score of 541. Haryana were second and third with Tiyana Phogat shooting 535 and Vibhuti Bhatia 533 respectively.

At the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range in Delhi, Punjab marksman Arjun Singh Cheema won the men's 50m (T5) pistol trial. Arjun shot 562 after 60 shots to finish ahead of the CISF's Avishkaar Tomar, who shot 558.

The Air Force's Ravinder came third with 558, but with one lesser inner-10 than Avishkaar.

In the junior men's free pistol T5 competition, Abhinav Choudhary of Rajasthan finished first with a score of 554.

Haryana's Ankit Tomar was second with 544 while Uttar Pradesh's Akshat Verma was third with 540.

In the junior women's free pistol T5, Sakshi Suryavanshi of Maharashtra was first with 545, Haryana's Shikha Narwal second with 540, while Divanshi, also from Haryana, was third with an aggregate of 536 points.

In the junior men's 25m pistol trials T5, Punjab's Rajkanwar Singh Sandhu finished on top with a score of 584. Haryana took the second and third spots as Sameer shot 583 and Ankait Tomar 580 respectively, to finish behind Rajkanwar. 

Also Read : Arjun Singh Cheema wins men's 50m pistol trial

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New Delhi, Aug 25 (Shooting News) Punjab marksman Arjun Singh Cheema won the national men's 50m pistol selection trials at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range here on Thursday.

Arjun shot 562 after 60 shots to finish ahead of the CISF's Avishkaar Tomar, who shot 558.

The Air Force's Ravinder came third with 558, but with one lesser inner-10 than Avishkaar.

In the junior men's free pistol competition, Abhinav Choudhary of Rajasthan finished first with a score of 554.

Haryana's Ankit Tomar was second with 544 while Uttar Pradesh's Akshat Verma was third with 540.

In the junior women's free pistol, Sakshi Suryavanshi of Maharashtra was first with 545, Haryana's Shikha Narwal second with 540, while Divanshi, also from Haryana, was third with an aggregate of 536 points.

In the junior men's 25m pistol trials, Punjab's Rajkanwar Singh Sandhu finished on top with a score of 584. Haryana took the second and third spots as Sameer shot 583 and Ankait Tomar 580 respectively, to finish behind Rajkanwar. 

Also Read : National Shooting Trials: Bandhvi Singh wins women's 50m in Rifle 3 Positions

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Bhopal, Aug 24 (Shooting News) Young shooter Bandhvi Singh clinched the women's 50m rifle 3 positions (3P) T5 trials at the Madhya Pradesh Academy Shooting ranges here on Wednesday.

Bandhvi, who hails from Madhya Pradesh, thrashed Ashi Chouksey 17-7 in the gold medal match.

Both Bandhvi and Ashi claimed the first two positions in the qualifiers with the same score of 583 as well identical inner-10 shots of 29. But it was Ashi, who topped on countback.

However, in the top-eight final stage, Bandhvi came out on top with a score of 402.5 against Ashi, who scored 400.3.

The third place went to Mansi Sudhir Singh who clinched bronze with a score of 398.2 

Also Read : Rhythm Sangwan wins women's 25m pistol competition

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New Delhi, Aug 24 (Shooting News) Haryana continued their dominance in the national shooting selection trials as the in-form Rhythm Sangwan won the women's 25m pistol competition here on Wednesday.

She shot 31 hits in the medal round to leave behind Maharashtra's Abhidnya Ashok Patil who had 27 to her name.

Delhi teenager Naamya Kapoor was third with 22 hits at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range.

Rhythm finished on top of the 93-woman qualification field with a score of 585 after her allotted 60 shots.

Abhidnya was fifth with 577, and Naamya sixth, with 575. Abhidnya did finish ahead of Rhythm in the semis (on countback) with 11 hits each, but was no match for her in the final.

Divanshi also brought Haryana the junior women's 25m pistol gold, shooting 24 in the final to edge out Punjab's Simranpreet Kaur Brar, who shot 23. Khushi Kapoor was third with 16 hits. 

Also Read : National Trials: Sarabjot Singh wins T6 Air Pistol trials, Naved tops in junior men's event

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New Delhi, Aug 23 (Shooting News) Young shooter Sarabjot Singh won the men's 10m Air Pistol T6 title, beating Indian Army's Dharmendra Singh Gaharwar 17-15 in a closely fought gold medal match in the National Shooting Selection Trials at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting range here on Tuesday.

The 20-year-old Haryana shooter had earlier topped the qualifiers with a score of 586 while Dharmendra made the top eight in fifth place with an effort of 582.

In the junior men's 10m Air Pistol final event, Uttar Pradesh's Naved Chaudhary downed Uttarakhand's Abhinav Deshwal 16-12.

Naved qualified in the third place with a score of 583, while Abhinav was one above him on the same score but with more 10s.

In the youth category, Haryana's Samrat Rana pipped Rajasthan's Abhinav Choudhary 16-14. 

Also Read : Double delight for Hazel in women's air rifle event at National Selection Trials

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Bhopal, Aug 20 (Shooting News) Haryana shooter Hazel clinched a double in 10m air rifle, winning both the senior and junior women's T5 national selection trials at the MP Shooting Academy range here on Saturday.

She beat Railways' Meghana Sajjanar 17-15 in the senior women's gold medal match and Karnataka's Yukhti Rajendra 17-9 in the junior women's final respectively.

She missed out on a treble, falling to Haryana's Nancy 10-16 in the Youth competition final.

She shot a solid 631 in the qualifiers which helped her come second behind Meghana in the event, while she topped the junior and youth qualifiers.

At the Dr Karni Singh Shooting range in New Delhi where the Pistol trials are underway, Uttar Pradesh's Ujjwal Malik got the better of Haryana's Samrat Rana 16-2 in the men's 10m air pistol T5 final.

Ujjwal had also topped the qualifiers with a score of 587, while Samrat came second with the same score but with lesser inner 10s.

Samrat, however, won gold in the junior men's 10m air pistol event, beating UP's Sagar Dangi 16-14 in the final.

Haryana also won gold in the youth men's 10m air pistol event when Jatin Kumar got the better of the Army's Pradhyumn Singh 16-6 in the gold medal match. 

Also Read : 2022 Para World Cup: Pistol shooter Rahul Jakhar wins gold

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Changwon, Aug 18 (Shooting News) Pistol shooter Rahul Jakhar held his nerves to emerge victorious in a shoot-off as India opened their campaign at the 2022 World Shooting Para Sport World Cup on a resounding note by clinching three medals, here on Thursday.

Jakhar, who qualified in the second spot with a score of 574-14x, held off a determined Kim Jungam in the shoot-off (3+3+2: 3+3+0) to win the P3 - Mixed 25m Pistol SH1 finals.

Trailing Jungam throughout the final, the 36-year-old Indian kept his calm to equal the scores 20-all in the last series of the elimination round.

"It was an amazing final. I am very happy to win the gold despite facing two malfunctions. It was a good experience before the all-important World Championships in November," Jakhar told the Paralympic Committee of India.

Pooja Agarwal claimed a bronze with 14 points.

Paralympic champion Avani Lekhara won silver competing with a new wheelchair and new rifle.

Represented by 14 shooters, India are one of the strongest teams at the Changwon 2022 World Cup. 

Also Read : Mairaj, Dhillon win a gold each in shooting meet

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New Delhi, Jul 31 (Shooting News) Two-time Olympian Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Raiza Dhillon claimed gold medals in men's and women's skeet events respectively in the inaugural Digvijay Singh Memorial Shooting Championship (Shotgun) here on Sunday.

Mairaj, who had become the first Indian to win skeet gold at the ISSF World Cup earlier this month, shot 115 in qualification to claim sixth spot and just about made it to the semi-finals stage among the top eight shooters.

He, however, won both the semi-final and the medal match with relative ease to seal gold. He shot 27 to top his semi-final and then scored a solid 35 out of 40 in the final match, to leave Arjun Thakur of Madhya Pradesh way behind in silver position with 30 hits.

Punjab's Gurjoat Singh, who topped the qualifiers with a fine 121, settled for bronze with 24 hits at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range.

In the women's competition, Dhillon had a similar story as she qualified in the fifth spot before piping favourite Ganemat Sekhon in the medal match to emerge triumphant.

It looked like Ganemat will go all the way after she topped the qualification round with a score of 118 and then won her semi-final with ease as well with 27 hits to second placed Dhillon's 25.

However, Dhillon made full use of the second match and shot a solid 36 targets to beat the Punjab girl by one target in the 40-shot final.

Rajasthan's Darshna Rathore was third with 26 hits to her name.

Dhillon, in fact, had a double gold on the day, winning the Junior Women's Skeet competition over Punjab's Parinaaz Dhaliwal.

In the junior final, she got 33 targets to Parinaaz's 32. Darshna again settled for bronze with 24 hits.

Darshna did win a double gold on the day, with Maheshwari Chauhan and Karttiki Singh Shaktawat in the women's team event, as well as with Yashasvi Rathore and Karttiki in the junior women's team event.

Madhya Pradesh won silver in both cases.

Madhya Pradesh, however, won two golds on the day as well, winning both the men's and junior men's team competitions.

In the junior men's skeet, it was all Punjab with Harmehar Singh Lally winning gold with 28 hits in the final over state-mate Bhavtej Singh Gill who shot down 24 targets.

Another Punjab lad Rajveer Singh Gill won bronze. 

Also Read : CGF CEO hopeful of shooting's reintegration before 2026 Games

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