The 50m rifle three position shooter will be keen to make a good start in his first outing since 2024 Paris Olympic Games

Some of India’s top shooters will be in action at the ISSF World Cup in Munich, Germany starting Tuesday. The tournament will mark the return of Paris Olympics medallists Swapnil Kusale, who will compete in his first international event since his bronze medal feat last year in France.
Kusale has been competing in domestic events and won bronze medals at the National Championships and National Games. He missed the world cups in Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Lima (Peru) but is now back in the national team. He tested himself at the Grand Prix Of Liberation, Plzen, where he won silver medal with a score of 463.5. But this will be his first ISSF competition. Kusale has been preparing with world championships in mind, and the outing in Munich will give him a peek into his preparations. 

There is immense competition at the domestic level for India berths and Kusale will have to ensure that he keeps the scores high enough to be able to make the cut for the major. There will be domestic trials before the world championships, scheduled in Cairo from Nov 06-18.
Besides, Kusale, Kiran Jadhav and seasoned Chain Singh are part of the India team for Munich. They will have the elimination round on Tuesday, before qualifications and the final, takes place on Wednesday. World championships medallist Akhil Sheoran and Niraj Kumar would be in action for ranking points.
“He took some time off after the Paris Olympics and then he gradually returned to the domestic circuit. He is doing well and looking forward to the Munich World Cup,” said national rifle coach Deepali Deshpande.
In the 10m air pistol, another Olympic medallist Sarabjot Singh will feature in the ranking points section. Sarabjot won mixed team bronze in Paris with Manu Bhaker.
Double-Olympics medalist Manu will also compete in air pistol and 25m pistol events.
On Tuesday, the women’s 10m air rifle and men’s 10m air pistol finals are scheduled. National champion Ananya Naidu in the women’s event will make her debut in the women’s event. Arya Borse, who won two mixed team silver medals in the first two world cup stages, will be in action. Besides, two-time Olympian and two-time individual world cup gold medallist Elavenil Valarivan will also compete.
In men’s air pistol, Paris Olympian Varun Tomar will be expected to give India a good start. The other two shooters — Aditya Malra and Nishant Rawat will be making their debut in pistol events.

ENDS