NRAI announces Rifle/Pistol teams for World Championships and Asian Games

Khel Today Bureau 

New Delhi: The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), the governing body of the Olympic sport of Shooting in India, has announced the Indian Rifle and Pistol squad for the upcoming World Championships in August in Baku, Azerbaijan and the Hangzhou Asian Games in China the month after. The Shotgun squad had been announced earlier.

A 22-member Rifle and Pistol squad will travel to Baku to vie for as many as 32 Paris Olympic quota places up for grabs there while a 21-member squad will make the trip to Hangzhou.

Reigning Men’s 10m Air Rifle World Champion Rudrankksh Patil has been included in the Asian Games squad basis the selection criteria for Paris quota winners. Ashi Chouksey also replaced Tilottama Sen in the Women’s Air Rifle squad in Hangzhou. She will be shooting both the Women’s Rifle events, given none of the top three Women’s Air Rifle shooters shot the three positions (3P) event and the Asian Games allows for only five entries each in Men’s and Women’s Rifle events. Ashi got the nod as the highest ranked Air Rifle shooter in the Women’s 3P squad.

The rest of the selection followed the rankings post the National Selection Trials 5 & 6 for Group A Rifle and Pistol shooters which concluded at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range on Friday.