Bhaker, other Olympians not included in team for Cairo WC

The Indian shooting team for the upcoming ISSF World Cup in Cairo was picked after taking into consideration the qualification score along with final ranking points of the 64th National Championship as the selection trials could not be held owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The likes of Olympians Manu Bhaker, Apurvi Chandela, Anjum Moudgil, Abhishek Verma, Deepak Kumar and Yashaswini Deshwal could not find a place in the squad as they did not meet the selection criteria.

The World Cup in Cairo is scheduled to be held from February 26 to March 8.

The team will be accompanied by six coaches -- Deepali Deshpande, Samaresh Jung, Manoj Kumar, DS Chandel, Ronak Pandit and Ved Prakash -- and two physios.

"Due to COVID-19 conditions in India, the selection trials, which were scheduled to be held in January 2022, were postponed. There was no time left for conducting the trials before selection of teams for ISSF World Cup, Cairo," the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) said in a statement.

"The selection committee of the NRAI has decided to consider the Qualification score along with final ranking points of 64th National Shooting Championship Competition, to arrive at the final ranking for selection of teams for ISSF World Cup, Cairo, Egypt from 26th February to 8th March 2022."

The top three shooters in each event with 'Minimum Travel Scores' (MTS) have been selected for individual and team events. The shooters occupying the fourth rank with same average score have also been selected.

The women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions (3PW) is the only event in which India will have two shooters instead of the minimum three allowed, as the third-ranked shooter -- Apurvi Chandela -- could not satisfy the MTS requirements.

The team will assemble for a camp at New Delhi's Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range on February 9, before departing for the Egyptian capital on February 25.

Team (Individual events):

50m Rifle 3 Positions Men: Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Akhil Sheoran, Kiran Ankush Jadhav, Sanjeev Rajput.

10m Air Rifle Men: Divyansh Singh Panwar, Rudrankksh Balasajeb Patil, Srinjoy Datta.

25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men: Anish, Bhavesh Shekhawat, Gurpreet Singh.  

10m Air Pistol Men: Kedarling Balakrishna Uchaganve, Saurabh Chaudhary, Gaurav Rana, Pradhyuman Singh.

50m Rifle 3 Positions Women: Sift Kaur Samra, Shriyanka Sadangi.

10m Air Rifle Women: Shreya Agrawal, Aayushi Gupta, Rajshree Sancheti.

25m Sports Pistol Women: Rhythm Sangwan, Esha Singh, Rahi Sarnobat.                

10m Air Pistom Women: Esha Singh, P Shri Nivetha, Ruchita Vinerkar.

50m Rifle 3 Positions Mixed Team: Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar-Sift Kaur Samra, Akhil Sheoran-Shriyanka Sadangi.

10m Air Rifle Mixed team: Divyansh Singh Panwar-Shreya Agrawa, Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil-Aayushi Gupta.        

25m Rapid Fire Pistol Mixed Team: Anish-Rhythm Sangwan, Bhavesh Shekhawat-Esha Singh.                 

10m Air Pistol Mixed team: Kedarling Balakrishna Uchaganve-Esha Singh, Saurabh Chaudhary-P Shri Nivetha.