Sonam Maskar, a young Indian shooter, has made a remarkable journey from a struggling family in Mumbai to claiming a silver medal at the ISSF World Cup finals in New Delhi. Her dedication and talent, nurtured by her supportive father and dedicated coach, have propelled her towards a promising future in the world of shooting.
The ISSF World Cup Finals are set to take place in Delhi from October 15-17, featuring top shooters from around the world vying for victory across 12 Olympic events. India, the host nation, will field the largest contingent of shooters, with 23 athletes competing against a total of 132 shooters from 37 countries.
India has announced a 23-member squad for the season-ending ISSF World Cup Final, with Rhythm Sangwan being the only Indian shooter competing in two events. The squad includes nine members from the Paris Olympics team, which returned with three bronze medals. The tournament will be held from October 13 to 18 at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi.
Manu Bhaker, the double Olympic bronze medalist, will be taking a three-month break from shooting to rest her shoulder and recharge after a demanding schedule. She aims to return to competition in four to five months. Bhaker highlights the immense potential of Indian shooting and emphasizes the importance of persistent effort, resources, and a robust junior program for future success.
Indian shooter Sarabjot Singh clinched the gold medal in the men’s 10m Air Pistol event at the ISSF World Cup in Munich, Germany, on Thursday. His victory marks India’s first medal at the prestigious event and serves as a significant morale booster ahead of the upcoming Paris Olympics. Despite facing some challenges in the final stages, Sarabjot’s strong performance throughout the competition secured him the top spot, narrowly defeating China’s Shuaihang Bu and Germany’s Robin Walter, who settled for silver and bronze, respectively.
Indian shooters’ disappointing run at the ISSF World Cup in Baku continued, with none of the skeet exponents in both men’s and women’s events making it to the finals. Asian Games silver medallist Anant Jeet Singh Naruka finished 15th with an aggregate qualifying score of 120/125, while veteran marksman Mairaj Ahmad Khan could only manage 105 and finished 76th among 80 shooters. Olympian Mairaj, who had finished 75th among 84 shooters in the ISSF Final Olympic Qualification Championship (shotgun) in Doha last month, could not improve upon his performance in Baku, managing identical scores of 21/25 in the two qualifying rounds on Thursday. The third Indian in the fray, Sheeraz Sheikh, aggregated 115 over five qualifying rounds of 25 shots each to finish 54th. In women’s skeet, Raiza Dhillon ended up 16th with an aggregate of 114/125, while Maheshwari Chauhan was 20th with 113 points. Another young shooter, Ganemat Sekhon, finished 25th with 111 points.
