NEW DELHI, Jul 6: A 49-member strong Indian shooting contingent will be eyeing glory when it takes part in the ISSF World Cup in Changwon, Korea from July 9-21.
The tournament assumes significance as the World Championships are also scheduled to be held this year.
The World Cup will be the first major assignment for the five new foreign coaches who have been roped in by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) recently.
The foreign coaches who have joined the Indian team and will be working closely with the chief coaches are Munkhbayar Dorjusuren (Pistol), Russel Mark (Shotgun), Lauryn Mark (High Performance Manager), Juan Giha (Skeet) and Thomas Farnik (Rifle).
Dorjsuren, Mark, Giha and Farnik are Olympic medallists and represented their countries at the Olympic Games multiple times.
Athletes representing in the 10m rifle and pistol events, along with the trap shooters in three batches, were the first to arrive in Korea on Wednesday, with the rest of the contingent reaching a day later.
While star shooters including the likes of Anish Bhanwala, Mairaj Ahmad Khan, Prithviraj Tondaiman, Sanjeev Rajput, Chain Singh, Anjum Moudgil, Manu Bhaker and Aishwary Tomar will be in action, reigning Asian Games champion Rahi Sarnobat has pulled out of the tournament due to medical reasons.
“The team is well prepared after rigorous training in the National camp conducted before the tournament. This is a very important tournament considering the World Championships are next in line. We wish the team all the very best,” said K. Sultan Singh, secretary-general of NRAI.
More than 432 athletes from 44 countries will take part in the tournament in Changwon.
In the previous combined World Cup stage in Baku, Azerbaijan, India had stood fifth with two gold and three silver medals, despite the pistol team choosing to opt out of the tournament.
India had initially planned to skip the Changwon World Cup but the postponement of the Asian Games in China led to an alteration of plans. (PTI)
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