India shooters in race against events to book 2016 Rio Olympics berths

Sidhu, for instance, shot 385 in the qualifying round at the Changwon World Cup but missed out on the final as she had fewer inner tens compared to the others who had shot the same score. Similarly, Sandhu won a bronze medal at Acapulco but it still wasn’t enough for him to book a berth for the Rio Games.

Sandhu is the country’s best bet in shotgun events as Ronjan Singh Sodhi has not made the cut for the team in double trap. In his absence, the onus will be on Mohammad Asab and Ankur Mittal to win quota places.

Like them, Olympic silver medallist Vijay Kumar too will be keen to make amends. Kumar has recorded such poor scores that he could not be selected in the main team, as the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) have set high qualification standards. Kumar has been able to participate in the tournaments only because of the financial support provided by the Army.

He has been training in Germany and has had a short stint with Lanny Bassham in the US to improve his mental toughness. Another rapid fire pistol shooter Pemba Tamang too has been added to the list for this World Cup. In the 10m air rifle category, Sanjeev Rajput will competing in the MQS section after he could not manage the minimum scores prescribed by the NRAI during the selection trials.

Following their consistent poor shows, women air pistol shooters like Shweta Singh, Malaika Goel and Harveen Srao have been pipped by Shri Nivetha and Yashaswini Deswal in the team.

Stakes high for shooters with a year to go for Olympics

Eleven Indian shooters had qualified for the London Olympics, returning with two medals. However, only five have managed to win quotas so far which means the stakes will be high when the shooters take their positions at the Gabala World Cup, starting today.

Quota winners: Jitu Rai was the first shooter to win an Olympic quota for the country by winning the silver in the 50m pistol event at the World Championships last year. Beijing gold medallist Abhinav Bindra (10m air rifle), London Games bronze winner Gagan Narang (50m rifle prone) and unheralded Gurpreet Singh (10m air pistol) are the other men who have booked a quota for the Games. In the women’s section, Apurvi Chandela is the only one who has made the cut so far, booking a berth in 10m air rifle category.

Big guns in fray: The focus will firmly be on some of the top shooters, including the likes of Manavjit Singh Sandhu (trap), Joydeep Karmakar, Vijay Kumar and women shooters Heena Sidhu, Ayonika Paul and Rahi Sarnobat, among others as they try to secure more quotas for the country. Quite a few shooters who were part of the contingent at the London Games have struggled to make the cut so far and Gabala is their penultimate chance to make amends.

Road ahead: The shooters will have just one more opportunity — the Asian Championships — after the Gabala World Cup to earn places for the Rio Olympics. The NRAI will then take into account the merit points and average scores from four World Cups, World Cup finals, Asian Championships and Asian Airgun Championships, along with the National Championships, to select the team for the Olympics. The squad will be finalised by end of this year, according to the National Rifle Association of India.

34 Number of quota places up for grabs in the 15 events that will be held at the Gabala World Cup.