World Championship Shooting: ‘Mission Tokyo’ begins for Indian shooters in South Korea event

Barely a week after signing off from their successful Asian Games campaign, the Indian shooters are gunning for glory at the World Championship in South Korea, with an eye on the Tokyo Olympics.

The tournament that is being staged in Changwon, is the first of the competitions which will offer Olympic quota spots to the top four finishers in each of the individual events. In the mixed events, the top two teams book their berths for the Olympics.

Though the World Championship is staged immediately after the Asian Games, the Indian team is fielding its full-strength side. All the medal winners at the Asian Games including gold medallist Rahi Sarnobat along with the other medal winners like Sanjeev Rajput, Deepak Kumar, Abhishek Verma, Heena Sidhu and young trap shooting sensation Lakshay Sheoran, will be in fray.

Teenage pistol ace Saurabh Chaudhury, who created a major upset by winning the gold medal in the 10m air pistol event, will not take part in the senior event but will be looking to continue his red-hot winning streak in the Junior World Championship being held simultaneously.

The World Championships mark the return of 2012 Olympic medallist Gagan Narang after failing to make the cut in the Asian Games squad. The veteran will be competing in the 10m air rifle event, which will also feature Asian Games silver medallist Deepak Kumar and Ravi Kumar. A dip in his performances in recent times has seen Narang dropped from the Sports Ministry’s TOPS program, which provides financial grants to elite athletes for training.

Heoran Yang of China, the gold medallist at the Asian Games who edged out Deepak to the second position in Jakarta, is one of the top contenders in the event along with the silver medallist in the Rio Olympics, Serhiy Kulish of Ukraine.

Also making a comeback in the Indian team in the 10m air rifle event is Mehuli Ghosh. After racking up some incredible scores earlier this year, the Commonwealth Games silver medallist Mehuli did not have a great outing in the subsequent World Cups. “She has been struggling a bit with technical issues with her equipment. We have tried to sort it out and hopefully, she will bounce back and regain her confidence,’’ says Joydeep Karmakar, Mehuli’s coach.

The 25m pistol event will see India’s first women gold medallist in shooting at the Asian Games, Rahi Sarnobat looking to extend her dream comeback after a career-threatening injury. She emerged victorious after being locked in a nerve wracking shoot-off in the finals of the Asian Games. Sarnobat had taken part in the London Olympics in 2012, but failed to progress to the final rounds. Coached by Munkhbayar Dorjsuren, a former Olympics bronze medallist, the 27-year-old is hoping to carry on with her good form to South Korea.

Heena Sidhu, the bronze medallist at the Asian Games, will be competing in 10m air pistol and 25m sport pistol. “In the Asian Games, I was not happy with my qualifying scores of 571 in the 10m air pistol event and that is one area I will need to improve,’’ says Heena.

After a fairy-tale start to her international career with gold medals in the World Cup in Mexico and Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Manu Bhaker drew a blank in the Asian Games. The World Championship, like the field in the Asian Games, will pit some of the best pistol shooters from the world and that will once again test the mettle of the teenager. Manu’s increased workload has been an area of concern as she has been taking part in both the senior and junior World Cups.

In the men’s 10m pistol events, the rapid rise of Chaudhury and Verma meant current world number one Shahzar Rizvi and 2016 Olympian Jitu Rai failing to book their places in the Asian Games. Both of them lagged behind Chaudhury and Verma in the selection trials ahead of the Asian Games. While Jitu will not feature in the 10m competition, Rizvi is desperate to make amends and justify his top billing.

Jitu’s favourite event 50m pistol event has been scrapped from the Olympics, which has meant the Army marksman is forced to work hard on the 10m air pistol event to earn an Olympic ticket. Jitu won the Commonwealth Games gold in the 10m pistol event, but his form has worryingly seen a freefall since then.

In the last Olympics in Rio, India had fielded nine shooters though none of them could find a place in the podium. While Abhinav Bindra narrowly lost out on a bronze medal, Jitu was the lone shooter who advanced to the final but finished eighth. Jitu was the first shooter to be eliminated in the final round of the 10m pistol event.

The improved showing in the Asian Games, where the Indian shooters bagged a total of nine medals including two gold, has raised hopes of a good performance in the World Championships, the last big ticket international shooting event of the year.