CHENNAI: After being in the background for some time, shooter Saurabh Chaudhary is back in the national squad.
The pistol shooter's name was included in the shooting team by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) on Thursday, the governing body of the sport in the country, for the upcoming ISSF World Cups in Argentina and Peru. The World Cups (rifle, pistol and shotgun) are scheduled to be held in April.
His inclusion is far from a surprise as he had raised his standards in the last few months — most notably the national championships and the recently-held national trials (1 & 2). Having missed the Paris Games, Saurabh is seeking a fresh start and he'll be determined to make his chance count.
The former Asian Games medallist will be taking part in his pet category — men's 10m air pistol. He'll also be taking part in the air pistol mixed team event, according to NRAI's release on Thursday. Paris Games medallist Sarabjot Singh, however, missed out.
Paris Olympics medallist, Manu Bhaker, is also part of the team and she'll be competing in three disciplines — women's 10m air pistol and 25m pistol and air pistol mixed team events. Arjun Babuta, who finished fourth during the Paris Games, is part of the squad as well. There are fairly new faces in the women's 10m air rifle with Arya Rajesh Borse, R Narmada Nithin and Sonam Uttam Maskar in the squad. Olympian Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar is part of the 50m rifle 3 positions batch but Paris Games medallist Swapnil Kusale, who was ranked fourth after aforementioned trials, could not find a spot in the list. Instead, veteran Chain Singh made the cut.
In the women's 50m rifle 3 positions, Sift Kaur Samra was named alongside Ashi Chouksey and Shriyanka Sadangi.
The list also comprises shooters from the shotgun disciplines. Prithviraj Tondaiman (trap men), Zoravar Singh Sandhu (trap), Ganemat Sekhon (skeet women), Anantjeet Singh Naruka (skeet men), to name a few, are some of the well-known figures in the squad.
