NEW DELHI: The ISSF Combined Shooting World Cup, starting at the Karni Singh ranges here on Friday, holds much greater significance for the likes of Tokyo Olympic quota holders Apurvi Chandela, Anjum Moudgil, Chinki Yadav, Manu Bhaker and Aishwarya Singh Tomar, apart from the current world No. 1 in women’s 10m air rifle, Elavenil Valarivan.
The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) will announce the official shooting contingent for the Tokyo Games after the ISSF WC, based on the performance of the shooters in the 10-day long event. With 15 shooters qualifying in air/rifle/shotgun categories, India has a record number of quotas for Tokyo – three more than at Rio 2016.
The NRAI is aiming for a possible 16th quota place in the 25m rapid fire pistol event with Anish Bhanwala, Vijayveer Sidhu and Gurpreet Singh in the fray. But only a gold medal can ensure ranking point quota.
There remains a strong possibility of some quota places being swapped and a name or two being dropped to accommodate others when the final list of Tokyo is finalised. In such a scenario, there would be added pressure on some of the quota holders to not only make the finals but finish on the podium as well.