In the Bhopal shooting World Cup (rifle and pistol), which begins on Wednesday, China’s
youthful shooters are poised to challenge India on their home field.
India’s rifle and pistol contingents looked like seasoned world beaters at the last ISSF
Shooting World Cup, which was hosted in New Delhi in March 2020. Their confidence was
bolstered by their continued dominance at the top of the world rankings. Since those heady
days of infinite promise, when a line of adolescents would frequently shoot scores that were
hardly conceivable, a lot has happened. It was too good to be true, and it actually did turn
out to be.
When the world beaters were shown the mirror at the Asaka Shooting Range in Tokyo, the
chastening meltdown that was precipitated in large part by the Covid breach shone out.
Indian shooters returned from the Olympics empty-handed for the second time in a row. A
homecoming warm enough to soothe the pain of Tokyo is what people like Anjum Moudgil,
Divyansh Singh Panwar, Aishwarya Pratap Singh Tomar, Manu Bhaker, and Yashaswini
Singh Deswal will hope for when they start their campaigns at the Madhya Pradesh State
Shooting School this week.
A world champion and promising potential have emerged from the post-Tokyo turmoil..
India’s chances will largely lie on Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil, who is only the second 10m
rifle shooter from the nation to win the world championship after Abhinav Bindra, in addition
to the seasoned Manu Bhaker. The former world No. 1 is in good shape; he won the gold
medal in shooting at the Cairo World Cup last month, defeating Miran Maricic, then No. 3,
and Maximilian Ulbrich, then No. 1.
Tomar also took home gold in the demanding 50m 3-Position event at that meet. In order to
finish first, the world No. 2 defeated the Nos. 1 and 3. Bhaker overcame her disappointing
Olympics with a fantastic 2022 that saw her win a silver medal at the world championships
and complete a golden hat-trick at the nationals in Bhopal (25m team women).She’ll
compete in the 10 and 25 metre pistol competitions.
Home field advantage will be important, but China, a shooting powerhouse whose shooters
missed Cairo, will pose a challenge to India. Chinese shooters displayed their astounding
depth at the World Championships the previous year, winning 58 medals (seniors and
juniors), 28 of which were gold. India came in second place with 35 medals. China took
home 11 medals out of a possible 45 at the Olympics in Tokyo. No other country managed
double digits.
China will have the second-largest contingent in Bhopal, with India, with 37 shooters, but
they appear to be utilising the competition as a training ground for their gifted juniors.Du
Linshu, a 19-year-old rifle shooter, will compete in his first senior match in Bhopal after
winning seven medals, including five gold, in the junior division of the global championships
held in Cairo last year.
Huang Yuting, who is only 16 years old, has won three medals at the world championships.
In Cairo the previous year, Yuting won two gold medals—in the mixed team and women’s
team 10m air rifle competitions—and one silver medal. The 18-year-old Lihao Sheng, who
took second place in the men’s 10m air rifle event at the Tokyo Olympics, will be one of
Rudranksh’s main rivals as he seeks to improve on his Wroclaw 2021 medal.
Varun Tomar and Manu Bhaker will have to compete against Liu Jinyao, the male and
female world champions in the 10m pistol, and Lu Kaiman.Some notable names include
American air rifle champion Alison Marie Weisz, German Olympic champion Christian Reitz,
and Frenchman Jean Quiquampoix, who won gold in the 25m rapid fire pistol competition at
the 2016 Rio Games. Due to the World Cups no longer awarding Olympic quota berths,
Quiquampoix will be the only Olympic champion in Bhopal.
Clement Bessaguet, who placed second in the Cairo Worlds in 2017, and Lamolle Mathilde,
who took first place in the women’s 25-meter pistol competition at the Cairo World Cup last
month, are both members of the French team.
Men’s and women’s 10m air pistol competitions will take place on the first day of the event.
The top three men are Sarabjot Singh, Varun Tomar, and Sumit Raman, while the top three
ladies are Rhythm Sangwan, Divya TS, and Manu Bhaker.
