Tokyo Olympics 2020: Elavenil Valarivan included in Indian shooting team; Chinki Yadav named as reserve

New Delhi: World No 1 10m air rifle shooter Elavenil Valarivan was on Sunday included in a 15-member Indian shooting contingent for the Tokyo Olympics while quota winner in the Chinki Yadav, who won a quota in the women’s 25m pistol event and had claimed a gold in the Delhi World Cup last month, was named as a reserve. To deal with the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) named two reserves in each discipline where its shooters have won quota places for the Games. It was also decided to name Manu Bhaker in both the women’s 25m pistol alongside the experienced Rahi Sarnobat and in her pet 10m air pistol event with Yashaswini Singh Deswal. The NRAI selection committee assembled in New Delhi to announce the names of 15 shooters who will represent the country at the Games, scheduled to be held in the Japanese capital from 23 July to 8 August. The shooters were selected based on their performance in the NRAI’s four-year Olympic qualifying cycle, starting with the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games which was followed by World Championship (both in 2018), all four World Cups and Asian Championships in 2019 and selection trials stage 1 and 2 earlier this year. As per the NRAI’s stated policy, an average of five best scores in an international competition, starting with the Jakarta Asiad, was taken into account while picking the final team. It also means that Anjum Moudgil, who was the first Indian shooter along with Apurvi Chandela to earn quota for the Tokyo Games at the 2018 World Championships, will be fielded in women’s rifle 3 positions event along with the seasoned Tejaswini Sawant. Chandela and Elavenil will participate in the women’s 10m air rifle event. Both Chinki and Anjum were kept as reserves in 25m pistol and rifle 3 positions events respectively. The quota belongs to the country and not the shooter who secures it. The full squad and reserves for Tokyo Olympics:  10m Air Rifle Men: Divyansh Singh Panwar, Deepak Kumar. Reserve shooters: Sandeep Singh, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar 50m Rifle 3 Position Men: Sanjeev Rajput, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar. Reserve shooters: Swapnil Kusale, Chain Singh 10m Air Pistol Men: Saurabh Chaudhary, Abhishek Verma. Reserve shooters: Shahzar Rizvi, Om Prakash Mitharval 10m Air Rifle Women: Apurvi Chandela, Elavenil Valarivan. Reserve shooters: Anjum Moudgil, Shreya Agrawal 50m Rifle 3 Position Women: Anjum Moudgil, Tejaswini Sawant. Reserve shooters: Sunidhi Chauhan, Gaayathri N 10m Air Pistol Women: Manu Bhaker, Yashaswini Singh Deswal. Reserve shooters: P Shri Nivetha, Shweta Singh 25m Sports Pistol Women: Rahi Sarnobat, Manu Bhaker. Reserve shooters: Chinki Yadav, Abhidnya Patil Skeet Men: Angadvir Singh Bajwa, Mairaj Ahmad Khan. Reserve shooters: Gurjoat Siingh Khangura, Sheeraz Sheikh 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team: Divyansh Singh Panwar and Elavenil Valarivan, Deepak Kumar and Anjum Moudgil 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team: Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker, Abhishek Verma and Yashaswini Singh Deswal