Bindra, Narang in race to Rio

Having earned just a single quota for the Rio Games so far, Indian shooters will be keen to shrug of their rustiness ahead of the season’s first rifle/pistol World Cup starting Friday in Changwon, South Korea, which will also double up as an Olympic qualifier.

Beijing Games gold medallist Abhinav Bindra and London Olympics bronze medallist Gagan Narang will lead the Indian contingent in the 10m air rifle event on Friday, hoping to book a berth at next year’s Games. While Bindra, who now claims to be a ‘hobby’ shooter, had shot decent scores towards the end of last year, Narang has struggled to strike form of late.

In fact, he failed to make the cut for the 10m air rifle squad for the first three rifle/pistol World Cups after he could not record the minimum qualification score set by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) for the event. He, however, will be part of the team on Friday after he entered in personal capacity to give himself an extra chance of qualifying for the Games.

Apart from the Olympic-medal winning duo, Sanjeev Rajput, Satyendra Singh and Chain Singh are the other contenders for India in the 10m air rifle. After Changwon, the rifle and pistol shooters will have three more World Cups and the Asian Championships to win quota places. Earlier, the Indian marksmen found the going tough in the two shotgun World Cups, failing to win a single Rio berth. Jitu Rai is the only shooter who has won a quota place for India so far, in the 50m pistol event.

Rai will also be in action on Friday in his pet event alongside Prakash Nanjappa and Om Prakash. Heena Sindhu will lead the women’s field in the women’s 25m event on Friday. Sidhu, who has not been in top form, will take the field in the minimum qualification score category along with Gauri Sheoran. The duo will not be entitled for ranking, medal or quota places. The onus to earn a Rio berth in this category will hence be on Rahi Sarnobat, Anisa Sayyed and Annu Raj Singh.

Changwon World Cup (On Friday)

10m air rifle: Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang, Sanjeev Rajput, Chain Singh, Satyendra Singh; 50m pistol: Jitu Rai, Om Prakash, Prakash Nanjappa; Women’s 25m: Rahi Sarnobat, Anisa Sayyed, Annu Raj Singh, Heena Sidhu, Gauri Sheoran.

Source:: Indian Express