India’s Rifle and Pistol Olympic shooting squad reaches Osijek for the European Championship

Khel Today Bureau

New Delhi: The 13-member Indian Olympic Rifle and Pistol squad along with coaching and support staff, reached in Osijek, Croatia, from the capital Zagreb, to take part in the Minimum Qualification Score (MQS) section of the European Championship, competitions for which got underway on Saturday, with the junior events scheduled first.

The Indian team will take part in the Men’s and Women’s individual Olympic events only, as shared by the coaches before departing from Zagreb. Barring a few exceptions like Anjum Moudgil who might be made to shoot in two individual events (Women’s 10M Air Rifle and Women’s 50M Rifle 3 Positions), most Shooters will be Shooting in the events that they have been selected for.

Tejaswini Sawant.

Located on the Eastern fringes of Croatia, Osijek harbours a population of just over a 100,000, and will also play host to the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun competiton, scheduled on June 22^nd, 2021, a couple of weeks after the conclusion of the European Championship.

“We have all settled down well and felt really good after completing the seven-day quarantine period,” said Rifle coach Deepali Deshpande. “The team is in great spirits and really looking forward to the Championship,” she added.

The first individual Olympic events, the Men’s and Women’s 10M Air Rifle and Air Pistol competitions are scheduled for Monday, May 24^th, 2021, which is where the Indian athletes will first be seen in action.

It is to be remembered that when shooting in the MQS section, athletes do not compete for a medal and therefore are not eligible to qualify for the finals. Their scores however can be used for official and ranking purposes.

A total of 15 Indians have qualified for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games, scheduled to begin on July 24^th, 2021. The two Men’s Skeet shooters to have qualified, Mairaj Khan and Angad Bajwa, are presently training in Italy.