Indian Shooters will target a good medal tally in the upcoming Asian Games. A 33-member Indian shooting team will take part in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, beginning September 23. The competition also holds significance as 24 Paris Olympics quota places are on offer as well.
Indian shooting contingent had a disappointing outing at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The upcoming Asian Games will be the first time the shoters will be in action in a multi-sport event and they eye a redemption. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Sarabjot Singh, Manu Bhaker and Rhythm Sangwan are some of the shooters who can be expected to win medals in the continental event.
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Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar
Aishwary Pratap Singh will be one of the favourites to clinch an Asian Games medal. He will be in action in 10m air rifle and 50m rifle 3-position.
The 22-year old already has the experience of appearing in the Tokyo Olympics. He will now make his debut in the Asian Games. He must utilise the continental event to seal berth in the Paris Olympics.
In the recent World University Games in August, he won gold medals in both the events. However later that month in the ISSF World Championships, he failed to qualify for the final in either of the events and missed out a chance to qualify for the Olympics. The youngster will be hoping to make a comeback in the upcoming Games.
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Sarabjot Singh
Sarabjot Singh will be eager to replicate what Saurabh Chaudhary achieved in the 2018 Asian Games – winning the gold medal in 10m Air Pistol.
He won an individual gold medal in the event earlier this year at the ISSF World Cup. He also bagged the gold in mixed team pistol along Divya Subbaraju. The 21-year old didn’t fare well at the ISSF World Championship much recently. However in the Asiad, he remains a strong contender for a medal.
Manu Bhaker
Manu Bhaker is seeking a revival of fortunes in her career. The 21-year old won the gold medal in the last edition of the Asian Games. However she suffered a form slump in recent times and even contemplated quitting the sport.
However a reunion with coach Jaspal Rana has rekindled hehr interest in the sport. She is currently on a comeback trail. Ahead of the Asiad, she won a confidence-boosting Gold medal at the University Games. One can hope Bhaker goes all the way to seal a podium finish at the Asiad this year in 10m Air pistol.
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Ramita Jindal
Ramita Jindal shined on the world stage in the junior shooting World Cup last year. In the Women’s 10m air-rifle, she became the junior World champion in October last year.
She then made the cut for the Asian Games and the World championships by finishing in the top three in the National Trials. Ahead of the World Championships she featured in the ISSF World Championships and finished 11th in the qualifying round in the individual event.
She hopes to replicate her success in the junior level at the senior stage. She also has an opportunity to seal a Olympic berth.
Rhythm Sangwan
Just aged 19, Rhythm Sangwan has already collected several medals in both the junior and senior circuits in pistol shooting. The teenager is one of the strong favorites for a podium finish at the Asian Games.
Rhythm is the reigning Asian Airgun Champion in 10m Air pistol. She also has a silver medal in 25m which she won at the 2022 World Championships.
