Of India’s 35 medals at the Olympics, only four have been won by shooters. In isolation, the figure might not be particularly awe-inspiring. Yet, to claim shooting will be among India’s fortes at the 2024 Paris Olympics – if not the most significant one – will not be an understatement.
For, a record-breaking 19 shooters have earned a quota for sport's grandest spectacle.
Record-Breaking Asian Games Campaign
While the 2022 Asian Games was record-breaking for the entire Indian contingent, in the holistic sense of the term, shooting emerged as the highlight. 22 of India’s 107 medals – seven gold, nine silver and six bronze – came in shooting, making it the best-ever Asian Games campaign for Indian shooting. India had only won nine medals in shooting in the previous two editions, while the 2010 edition yielded eight shooting honours.
19 Olympic Quotas Secured
Despite the steep climb from nine medals to 22, it was crucial for the Indian shooters to prove the Asian Games tally was not a smokescreen, which they did with their performances at the Olympic qualifiers. 19 Indian shooters have earned a quota for the 2024 Olympics, but before we look into who they are, and whether their flight to Paris is all but confirmed, let us first understand how the shooting qualification process works.
2024 Paris Olympics – All About Shooting
How many shooting events will be there at the 2024 Olympics?
There will be a total of 15 shooting events at the upcoming Olympics – six from the men’s category, as many from the women’s category, and three from the mixed category.
What will be the fifteen events?
10m Air Rifle, 10m Air Pistol, 50m Rifle 3 Positions, Trap and Skeet will be the common events in both men’s and women’s category. Rapid Fire Pistol men’s and 25m Pistol women’s are the other two events from the individual categories. In the mixed category, contests will be held in 10m Air Rifle, 10m Air Pistol and Skeet.
How many shooters can qualify for the Olympics?
A total of 340 shooters will be competing for glory in Paris.
What is the maximum number of shooters each country send?
Each nation, that is, their National Olympic Committee (NOC), can send a maximum of two shooters for each individual event. So, given that there are 12 individual events, there can be no more than 24 shooters from one specific nation.
How to qualify for the 2024 Olympics?
For shooting, there are four ways of qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Through ISSF Championships: Shooters can earn a quota for the Olympics by virtue of their performances in any ISSF-organised championship between 14 August 2022 and 9 June 2024 – with a total of 20 such tournaments scheduled during this period. 300 of the 340 slots are up for grabs via this route.
Host Country Places: For being the host nation, France will get 12 slots – provided that the shooters they select meet the eligibility criteria.
Universality Places: A total of 16 universality places are made available to the eligible NOCs.
Qualification Ranking: The remaining 12 slots will be distributed based on the qualification rankings for the Olympics.
Know Your Shooters – The 19 Indians Who Have Earned Quotas
Now that you are aware of shooting events and qualification pathways, let us have a look at the 19 Indians who have earned a quota, based on their events:
10m Air Rifle Men
Arjun Babuta
Among the six Indian shooters who earned a quota at the 2023 Asian Shooting Championships, held in South Korea’s Changwon, Arjun Babuta is a 24-year-old hailing from Fazilka, Punjab. A three-time medallist at the ISSF Junior World Cup, Arjun won a silver medal in Changwon. With a rating of 1050, he is currently sixth in the ISSF world rankings in the 10m Air Rifle men’s event.
Rudrankksh Patil
Rudrankksh Patil, touted as among the innumerable potentially next-big-things in Indian shooting, has won four ISSF World Cup medals at the age of only 20. His quota was secured when he won the gold medal at the 2022 ISSF World Shooting Championships in Cairo, Egypt. As for the world rankings, he is placed third with a rating of 1500.
10m Air Rifle Women
Mehuli Ghosh
Mehuli Ghosh, despite being only 23, is an established figure in the Indian sporting fraternity by now, courtesy of her silver medal triumphs at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the 2022 Asian Games. She earned an Olympics quota by winning a bronze medal at the 2023 ISSF World Shooting Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan. With a rating of 1250, she is ranked fourth in the world in her event.
Tilottama Sen
Tilottama Sen is the youngest shooter to have earned a quota, having exceeded expectations at 15 years of age. Based in Bengaluru, Sen won a silver medal at the 2023 Asian Championships. Her ranking in the 10m Air Rifle women’s is joint-ninth, with a rating of 700.
50m Rifle 3 Positions Men
Swapnil Kusale
Among the more experienced members of the contingent, Swapnil Kusale – the 28-year-old who comes from a family of farmers in Maharashtra – earned his quota by finishing fourth at the 2022 World Championships. In that same competition, he was a part of India’s bronze-winning men’s team. With a rating of 536, Swapnil is ranked sixth in the world.
Akhil Sheoran
Akhil Sheoran can be considered as among India’s medal prospects, for with a rating of 1000, he is the highest-rated male 50m Rifle 3 Positions shooter. The 28-year-old has a 2023 World Championships bronze to his name, which secured him the Olympics quota, whilst he also has two World Cup medals to his name.
50m Rifle 3 Positions Women
Sift Kaur Samra
Among India’s achievers at the Hangzhou Asian Games, where she won an individual gold and a team silver, Sift Kaur Samra secured her Olympics quota by finishing fifth at the 2023 World Championships. A rating of 880 has kept Samra on the second rank of the 50m Rifle 3 Positions women’s world rankings.
Shriyanka Sadangi
Having won a gold medal at the Asian Airgun Championships nearly fourteen years ago, Odisha’s Shriyanka Sadangi might have taken longer to realise her potential than expected, but by finishing fourth at the 2023 Asian Championships, she has made a statement. In the world rankings, however, she is placed 29th with a rating of 28.
10m Air Pistol Men
Varun Tomar
Varun Tomar, the 20-year-old from Uttar Pradesh who took to shooting after getting inspired by the success of his cousin Saurabh Chaudhary in this sport, is now ranked number 1 in men’s 10m Air Pistol, courtesy of his rating of 2000. He won a gold medal recently at the 2024 Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Jakarta, which earned him a Paris quota.
Sarabjot Singh
Like Sift, Sarabjot Singh also won a gold and a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Hangzhou. A bronze medallist in 2023’s Asian Championships, he has also won two gold medals in the World Championships.
10m Air Pistol Women
Esha Singh
Besides that she, too, won a gold medal at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers, Esha Singh has another similarity with Varun Tomar – she is ranked first in her event, boasting a rating of 1000. At the 2022 Asian Games, the 19-year-old from Hyderabad won four medals.
25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men
Anish Bhanwala
11 Junior World Cup medals, with 7 Junior World Championships medals, were prominent enough signs to predict Anish Bhanwala – the 21-year-old from Haryana – is made for the biggest of stages. He earned his Olympics quota by securing a bronze medal at the 2023 Asian Championships.
Vijayveer Sidhu
A bronze medallist at the Hangzhou Asian Games, Chandigarh’s Vijayveer Sidhu is ranked second in the world with a rating of 880. He earned his quota only recently, by winning a silver medal at the Asian Qualifiers.
25m Pistol Women
Manu Bhaker
Manu Bhaker will be celebrating her 22nd birthday next month, but her age might not trigger an escape from the baggage of responsibility, for she is the only shooter from the 19 to have already competed at the Olympics. Having won a gold medal at the Asian Games last year, she finished fifth at the Asian Championships to earn an Olympics quota.
Rhythm Sangwan
Among the many promising youngsters in the Indian shooting circuit, 20-year-old Rhythm Sangwan – another Asian Games gold medallist – is ranked third in her event with a rating of 1500. She won a bronze medal at the recently concluded 2024 Asian Championships.
Trap
Bhowneesh Mendiratta (Trap Men)
Bhowneesh Mendiratta was the first Indian shooter to secure an Olympics quota, which he earned after finishing fourth at the ISSF World Shotgun Championships in October 2022. He was also a member of India’s silver-winning team at the 2022 World Cup.
Rajeshwari Kumar (Trap Women)
Part of the trio that won a silver in women’s team trap at the Hangzhou Asian Games, Rajeshwari Kumari is the oldest of the 19 shooters, at 32. She also won a gold medal in the last edition of the National Games, held in November 2023.
Skeet
Anantjeet Singh Naruka (Skeet Men)
Hailing from Rajasthan, Anantjeet Singh Naruka rose to prominence when he won a silver and a bronze medal at the 2023 Asian Games. Now, he has followed it up with an Olympics quota, having secured it by winning a silver medal at the 2024 Asian Shotgun Championships, held in Kuwait. With a rating of 1750, he is currently ranked second in men's skeet.
Raiza Dhillon (Skeet Women)
A two-time junior World Championships medallist, 19-year-old Raiza Dhillon rose through the ranks to win a silver medal at the 2024 Asian Shotgun Championships. She is currently ranked second in the world in women's skeet, boasting a rating of 440.
A Quota Does Not Guarantee an Olympics Ticket
While the aforementioned 19 shooters have an Olympics quota to their name, it does not guarantee them a ticket to Paris. The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) will be conducting four trials later this year, commencing in May, where the top five shooters from each category, based on the national rankings on 29 February 2024, will be eligible to participate.
The NRAI has a clear existent policy that any quota won by an Indian athlete belongs to the Federation and the country. Though due consideration shall be afforded to such an athlete per provisions of this policy, it does not necessarily imply that merely winning a quota place in itself suggests that only that particular athlete shall eventually represent the country at the Olympic Games in 2024. Quota place winners alongside other qualified athletes shall have to subject themselves to the test of trials in order to be selected as per the provisions of this policy.National Rifle Association of India (NRAI)
Scoring System in NRAI Trials
The final Olympics contingent will be decided upon the Final Average Score (FAS) of a shooter.
Every eligible shooter will have to appear in at least three of the four national trials. The scores of those trials, called the OST (Olympic Selection Trial) score – the best of three to be considered for those who appear in all four trials – will then be accumulated for the FAS calculation, while the 19 shooters who have earned a quota will be given an additional point as Quota Bonus Point (QBP).
The summation of the top three OST scores and the QBP will be divided by three to determine a shooter’s FAS. In case of a tiebreak, bonus points will be considered, with the top four finishers of a trial being awarded 0.75, 0.50, 0.25 and 0.10 points respectively. NRAI, although, have stated the bonus points will not be considered should there be no ties.
Scoring system:
Final Average Score (FAS) = (Summation of top three OST scores + Quota Bonus Point) ÷ 3
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