New Delhi: The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) selection committee announced a 22-member Indian team for the ISSF World Cup Munich, with double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker and fellow Olympian and world championship medallist Esha Singh being the only members of the squad to start in two individual pistol events, while Manu will additionally compete in the mixed team pistol event.
The ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol is scheduled from May 24 to 31 in Munich, Germany, which is traditionally billed as a blue-riband annual event in the sport.
The first shots will be fired at the iconic OlympiaschieBanlage in the German capital on Tuesday with the 25m Pistol Women Precision Stage as the first event. Simultaneously, the qualification round of the 10m Air Pistol Men and the elimination round of the women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions will also commence, followed by the qualification for the 10m Air Rifle Men event. The first day will see two finals, 10m Air Pistol Men and 10m Air Rifle Men, being held.
A huge 696 athletes from 80 countries have entered the fray for the Munich World Cup, including a galaxy of Olympic and world champions, ready to test their competition readiness, their weapons and ammunition and, indeed, their accuracy against the best of the best, ahead of premiere multi-sport events and the Shooting World Championships later in the year.
This will be the year’s second Rifle/Pistol World Cup, with India having garnered one gold in the Granada World Cup, back in April. That team consisted of shooters ranked between 3 and 6 in the domestic rankings. In Munich, the top-ranked Indian rifle and pistol shooters are set to compete in a top international competition away from home for the first time in the year. IANS
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