Faridabad - Trap Shooter Manavjit Singh Sandhu is hopeful of 'two to four medals' from the Indian shooting squad at the Paris Olympics. India's 21-member shooting squad is the second largest after athletics in the upcoming Paris Olympics. It is also India's largest-ever shooting contingent in the history of the Games, surpassing the previous best of 15 from Tokyo.
As the number of shooters has increased in the squad, their expectations have also multiplied manyfold, after firing blanks and returning empty-handed from the last two Olympics despite putting up a record number of players.
However, Olympian Manavjit feels that this squad, a blend of young and experienced members, will excel in the Olympics.
"The whole squad looks confident and I expect two to four medals, particularly from the young squad. Each player is well-trained and has worked hard for the spot. All the players are world-class and also carry a whole lot of experience. So the performance will be much better than previous appearances, " Manavjit told IANS on the sidelines of the 'Glory of Five Rings' event.
"The interesting thing is that the nature of our shooting is quite unique. The least expected one performs at the top level. So you just can't name anyone from the squad, " he added.
India's last Olympic medal(s) in the sport came in the 2012 London Olympics when Vijay Kumar shot a silver in men’s 25m rapid fire pistol and
Gagan Narang claimed a bronze medal in men's 10m air rifle. Narang is currently in Paris as India's Chef-de-Mission.
India's first Olympic medal in shooting was bagged by Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore when he claimed silver in men's double trap in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Since then the country has clinched three more medals in the sport including Abhinav Bindra's historic first individual gold in men's 10m air rifle in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The shooters will be shouldering the biggest burden of the hopes as they will be hoping to find success for the first time since the 2012 Games. Our biggest hopes in the 21-member shooting squad will be centred around rifle shooters Sarabjot Singh, Manu Bhaker, Sift Kaur Samra, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Swapnil Kusale and Rhythm.
"Anjum Moudgil is the one who will strive for the medal and she is a champion player and when Anjum shoots well the other youngsters in the squad also get confidence from that. So how youngsters will perform all depends on the seniors they will have to share their confidence with the other members.
India's shooting squad for Paris Olympics:
Rifle
Men’s 10m air rifle: Sandeep Singh, Arjun Babuta
Women’s 10m air rifle: Elavenil Valarivan, Ramita Jindal
Women’s 50m rifle 3 positions: Sift Kaur Samra, Anjum Moudgil
Men’s 50m rifle 3 positions: Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Swapnil Kusale
10m air rifle mixed team: Sandeep Singh/Elavenil Valarivan, Arjun Babuta/Ramita Jindal
Pistol
Men’s 10m air pistol: Sarabjot Singh, Arjun Cheema
Women’s 10m air pistol: Manu Bhaker, Rhythm Sangwan
Men’s 25m rapid fire pistol: Anish Bhanwala, Vijayveer Sidhu
Women’s 25m pistol: Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh
10m air pistol mixed team: Sarabjot Singh/Manu Bhaker, Arjun Singh Cheema/Rhythm Sangwan
Shotgun
Men’s trap: Prithviraj Tondaiman
Women’s trap: Rajeshwari Kumari, Shreyasi Singh
Men’s skeet: Anantjeet Singh Naruka
Women’s skeet: Maheshwari Chauhan, Raiza Dhillon
Skeet mixed team: Anantjeet Singh Naruka/Maheshwari Chauhan