Asian Games 2023: Top young shooters selected in 33-member Indian shooting team

Top young shooters have been selected in the 33-member Indian team for the upcoming Asian Games 2023 to be held in Hangzhou, China.

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The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has named a 33-member Indian shooting team which includes Divyansh Singh Panwar, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Rudranksh Patil, Sarabjot Singh, Manu Bhaker, Rhythm Sangwan, Prithviraj Toindaman, Ganemat Sekhon, and Rajeshwari Kumari. They will take part in the Asian Games 2023 starting from September 23. Everyone is hoping to improve on the country's nine-medal haul in shooting, which India achieved in the 2018 edition of the Games in Jakarta/Palembang, Indonesia.

However, the team does not include Saurabh Chaudhary. Saurabh became the youngest Indian shooter to win a gold medal at the Asian Games in 2018. The team also excluded Rahi Sarnobat, who won the other gold medal for India at the 2018 Games. Meanwhile, NRAI announced a 35-member team for the Asian Championships, which will start in Changwon, Korea in October this year.

The Asian Games 2023 assumes additional significance as a total of 24 Paris Olympics quota places are up for grabs. There will be two in each of the 12 individual Olympic events in rifle, pistol, and shotgun, NRAI said.

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Meanwhile, India will field entries in all 16 events, including four mixed team events, at the Asian Championships. They will also field four additional shooters who will compete only for ranking points. These four shooters are Rudrankksh Patil, Mehuli Ghosh, Sift Kaur Samra, and Rajeshwari Kumari. The four mentioned have already achieved Paris Olympics 2024 quotas and are consequently ineligible to win quotas.

The shooters have so far won seven quota places for the Paris Games. They will look to secure their first quotas in the pistol and skeet events at the Asian Championships, apart from filling their remaining spots in the rifle and trap disciplines.