NEW DELHI: National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) president, Raninder Singh, on Wednesday assured that there will no “substantial changes” to the Tokyo Olympic-bound Indian shooting contingent and that the team will be selected based on the current form displayed by the quota holders during the ongoing ISSF World Cup.
Chinki Yadav, Rahi Sarnobat and Manu Bhaker finished 1-2-3 in the women’s 25m sports pistol event, a first for India in the history of the shooting World Cup, while 20-year-old Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar clinched a sensational gold in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions to cap off a brilliant day for the hosts at the Karni Singh Shooting Range (KSSR) here.

Ahead of the World Cup, there were talks about some quota places being swapped to accommodate a shooter or two in the Olympic-bound team, with Chinki and Aishwary’s positions shaky. “I don’t look at any substantial changes to the Olympic-bound team. The selection will be done based on the current for. However, the scores in the qualification stages will also be taken into account. The team will be announced next week by the selection committee,” Raninder said.

He also informed the postponement of the senior National Championships in Delhi next month, owing to the rising number of Covid-19 cases in India. A decision in this regard will be taken in the next 48 hours, he added. “In this current Covid wave, we can’t conduct the Nationals at the KSSR here. I can’t risk the lives of my shooters. It’s not possible. A decision will be taken soon. There could be the Nationals at different places, like the air pistol events in Pune, air rifle in Hyderabad and shotgun events in Patiala,” he informed.

The NRAI chief also revealed that the Olympic quota holders and reserves will be sent to participate in the European Championships, slated for late May and early June, in Slovenia to aid in their Tokyo preparations.