Seasoned skeet shooter Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Anantjeet Singh among strong Indian squad.
The NRAI (National Rifle Association of India) has selected a strong 12-member Indian squad for the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Shotgun to start next week in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Eight members of the Indian squad are also travelling to compete as RPO (ranking points only) shooters. Competitions begin with the men’s and women’s skeet qualifiers on Monday (May 4) with the finals following the next day. The two trap finals are listed on May 9 with the fifth and last final, the trap mixed team, scheduled next Saturday on May 10. A total of 284 athletes representing 42 nations are in the fray for the five Olympic events on the 10-day roster.
Day one of competitions will feature three Indian Olympians, Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Anantjeet Singh Naruka in the men’s skeet and Raiza Dhillon in the women’s skeet. All three will be seen in international action for the first time this year.
Besides the all-conquering Italians, Indian shooters will be up against top shooters from strong shotgun nations like Finland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Greece, Peru and Qatar among others.
Hosts Kazakhstan also have a quality squad and strong representation from China and Russia, the latter entered as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN), will ensure that Indian shooters will have to be at their very best to get to the podium.
EOM
