Out of all Olympic sports that India prepares contingents for, shooting seems like one that the country automatically excels at. Through every edition of the Olympic Games, India’s shooting berths keep increasing.
A total of 11 shooters went to London in 2012, where Gagan Narang bagged a bronze, and Vijay Kumar a silver in their respective events.
Fifteen shooters have already qualified to represent India at the Tokyo Olympics next year, making it the largest shooting contingent in Indian Olympic history. Only China and the United States have larger contingents for shooting.
Let’s take a closer look at the 15 shooters that have qualified for Tokyo 2020.
Anjum Moudgil
Anjum Moudgil, 24, won the silver medal at the ISSF World Championship at Changwon in April. She shot in the 10m Air Rifle category.
Moudgil shot a total of 248.4 in the eight-women final to open the Indian senior squad's medal account in the tournament.
Apurvi Chandela
At the same tournament as Moudgil, Apurvi Chandela, 26, placed fourth in the 10m air rifle event.
Chandela aggregated a strong 207 to finish fourth. She got a berth for the Olympics since a country could avail two Olympic quota places at the event in Changwon.
Divyansh Singh Panwar
Divyansh Singh Panwar, 16, won a silver medal at the ISSF World Cup in Beijing to book his place for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Divyansh bagged the silver medal in the 10m Air Rifle event with 249.0 points. He came second by only .4 points, losing to China's Zicheng Hui with 249.4 points.
Abhishek Verma
Abhishek Verma, 29, won the gold medal in his maiden World Cup Finals appearance at the ISSF World Cup in Beijing which allowed him to seal a berth in the 2020 Olympics.
Verma, won the 10m Air Pistol final as he finished atop the podium with 242.7 points. He beat Russia's Artem Chernousov (240.4 points) who places second.
Rahi Sarnobat
Rahi Sarnobat, 29, won the gold medal at the ISSF World Cup in Munich to book her place in the 2020 Olympics.
Rahi won gold by topping the women's 25m pistol final with a score of 37. She beat out Ukrainian Olena Kostevych who scored a 36.
Saurabh Chaudhary
Saurabh Chaudhary, 16, is the current holder of the world record in 10m air pistol (246.3).
He earned a berth in the 2020 Olympics after winning the gold at the ISSF World Cup in Delhi.
Chaudhary scored a 245 to beat Serbian Damir Mikec, who scored 239.3 and placed second.
Sanjeev Rajput
Sanjeev Rajput, 38, earned his place at the 2020 Olympics by winning a silver medal in 50m rifle at the ISSF World Cup in Rio De Janeiro.
Rajput shot 462.0 in the finals, but came a whisker short of beating Petar Gorsa of Croatia (462.2).
Yashaswini Deswal
Yashaswini Deswal, 22, qualified for the 2020 Olympics after winning the gold medal in 10m Air Pistol at the ISSF World Cup in Rio De Janeiro.
Deswal (236.7) upset Olena Kostevych (234.8) of Ukraine to place atop the podium.
Deepak Kumar
Deepak Kumar, 32, qualified for the Olympics after winning the bronze medal in 10m Air Rifle three positions at the 14th Asian Championships in Doha.
Kumar (626.8) finished behind Chinese Liu Yukun (629) and Yu Haonan (626.4).
Manu Bhaker
Manu Bhaker, 17, clinched qualification for the 2020 Olympics after placing fourth in the 10m Air Pistol at the ISSF World Cup in Munich.
Bhaker (201) came fourth but qualified for the Olympics as Anna Korakaki (241.4, gold) and Minjung Kim (220.8, bronze) had already qualified.
Chinki Yadav
Chinki Yadav, 21, secured qualification to the 2020 Olympics with a sixth place finish in 25m pistol at the 14th Asian Championships in Doha.
Yadav (16) qualified because Jingjing Zhang (36, gold), Jangmi Kim (26) and Yaxuan Xiang (20), who finished from third to fifth, had already qualified for the Olympics.
Tejaswini Sawant
Tejaswini Sawant, 38, qualified for the 2020 Olympics with a fourth place finish in 50m rifle three positions at the 14th Asian Championships in Doha.
Sawant qualified because Shi Mengyao (457.9, gold) and Yesugen Oyunbat (457, silver) had already qualified, allowing her fourth place finish to clinch another quota for Indian shooters.
Aishwary Tomar
Aishwary Tomar, 18, secured the 13th quota for India at the 2020 Olympics with a bronze medal in 50m rifle three positions at the 14th Asian Championships in Doha.
Tomar (449.1) placed third behind Zhongao Zhao (459.1) and Jonghyun Kim (459.9).
Angad Bajwa and Mairaj Ahmad Khan
Angad Bajwa, 23, secured a quota in the 2020 Olympics with a gold medal in shotgun skeet at the 14th Asian Championships in Doha. Mairaj Ahmad Khan, 44, qualified himself after winning the silver medal in the same event.
Bajwa and Khan were both tied at a score of 56. Bajwa clinched the gold medal after winning a shoot-off 6-5, but their 1-2 positions ensured that both men would get Olympic quotas.
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