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Xtra Time Web Desk: The upcoming Tokyo Olympics can prove to be India’s best chance for winning multiple medals. As many as 126 athletes will be representing the country in 18 disciplines. With six days to go for the biggest sporting spectacle, all eyes will be on the athletes who will carry the hopes of the nation.  Xtra Time has been analyzing the medal prospects of the country at Tokyo Summer Games in various disciplines. Let us focus on the Indian shooting team.

Shooting has emerged as the strongest gold medal hope for the country. A string of consistent performances in the last few years which starting with the 2018 World Championships. India has not only won multiple medals at various international shooting competitions in the last four years, but the top shooters have consistently reached finals in the main rifle and pistol events. There was a similar hope in Rio but the shooting team failed to win a sinle medal. India will field a 15 member strong squad across 10 categories, making it the largest contingent in a single discipline. The Indian duo of Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker are the downright favourites for a medal, having won five gold and one silver medal in their six World Cup mixed event finals leading up to Tokyo Games.

The Indian shooting squad had been training in Zagreb since May. They will travel to Tokyo via Amsterdam. The two-month long competition-cum-training tour saw them earn mixed results in the two events they played, but it has also helped identify the issues that need focus on as a team. The team did reasonably well at the recently held International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup stage in Osijek, Croatia.  

Indian squad:

Men's 10 M Air Rifle - Divyansh Singh Panwar and Deepak Kumar

Women's 10 M Air Rifle - Apurvi Chandela and Elavenil Valarivan

Men's 10 M Air Pistol - Saurabh Chaudhary and Abhishek Verma

Women's 10 M Air Pistol - Manu Bhaker and Yashaswini Singh Deswal

Men's 50 M Rifle 3 Position (Men's) - Sanjeev Rajput and Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar

Women's 50 M Rifle 3 Position - Anjum Moudgil and Tejaswini Sawant

Women's 25 m Pistol - Manu Bhaker and Rahi Sarnobat

Men's Skeet - Angad Bajwa and Mairaj Ahmad Khan

Mixed Team 10m Air Rifle - Divyansh Singh Panwar, Elavenil Valarivan and Deepak Kumar, Anjum Moudgil Mixed Team 10m Air Pistol - Saurabh Chaudhary, Manu Bhaker and Abhishek Verma, Yashaswini Singh Deswal

Past performances in Olympics: Shooting has become one of India’s strongest sports at the Olympics in the last two decades with the shooters winning four medals in last three editions including gold and a silver. The first shooting medal came at the 2004 Athens Games, when double trap shooter Rajyvardhan Singh Rathore won India’s first individual silver medal. India’s biggest moment arrived at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 when Abhinav Bindra won the first individual gold for the country in 10m air rifle.  In 2012 London Olympics, India won two shooting medals – another first – a silver for Vijay Kumar in men’s 25m rapid fire pistol, as well a bronze in men’s 10 meter air rifle for Gagan Narang. However, Indian shooters had a disappointing outing at Rio Olympics failing to win a single medal.

Manu Bhaker:

The 19 year old has been a dominant force in the world of shooting. She will be competing in three events at Tokyo – 10m air pistol, 25m sports pistol and mixed team 10m air pistol with Saurabh Chaudhary. Manu has won the mixed air pistol gold in the last five World Cups. She also won the World Cup Final mixed gold with a Russian, and the Asian Championship mixed gold with Abhishek Verma. She is definitely the best medal prospect for the country in Tokyo.

Saurabh Chaudhary:
He is undoubtedly one of the best shooters from the Indian contingent heading to the Tokyo Games. The shooter from Meerut has eight World Cup gold medals including both individual and mixed team events. The 19-year-old has been in the limelight since the 2018 Asian Games when he became the youngest shooter from India to win a gold medal in 10m air pistol event. Saurabh will be competing in men’s 10m air pistol and team up with Manu Bhaker for the mixed team air pistol event. He had a good outing at the Croatian leg of the 2021 ISSF World Cup where he bagged silver and a bronze in 10m air pistol mixed team and individual event respectively.

Elavenil Valarivan:

Currently ranked World No. 1 in the women’s 10m air rifle category, Elavenil is another string contender for medal at the Tokyo Olympics. She is the only shooter in the Indian shooting team for the Olympics to get the slot without winning a quota. Mentored by Olympic bronze medalist Gagan Narang, Elavenil made rapid strides in senior shooting scene. Although she failed to make it to the finals of ISSF World Cups held in New Delhi and Osijek in Croatia, she will be keen to put these blips behind her. Elavenil will compete in two events at Tokyo – women 10m air rifle and mixed team 10m air rifle with Divyansh Singh Panwar.

Rahi Sarnobat:

She clinched the 25m pistol gold medal at the shooting World Cup in Osijek, Croatia. It was India’s only gold at the tournament. The 30-year-old is a medal contender, having won two back-to-back World Cup medals this year. This will be her second Olympics after London 2012. She missed the cut in Rio because of an injury.