Olympian Shagun Chowdhary was given a slot in the women’s trap team for the first World Cup to be staged in Acapulco, Mexico, from March 17 to 23.
The selection committee of the National Rifle Association of India focused on providing exposure for the juniors, particularly in the light of new rules coming into play from this season.
The selection committee also opted to give the MQS slots to other juniors for the next shotgun World Cup to be held in Al Ain, UAE, from April 17 to 23. Thus, with Shreyasi Singh, Seema Tomar and Varsha Varman retaining their place, Shagun and Malika Wig will be replaced by Mahima Kumar and Anam Basit in the MQS section.
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Interestingly, the shooters in the MQS section will be eligible to shoot for the medals from this season, though there will be no Olympic quota places to be won.
In men’s trap, Mansher Singh and Kynan Chenai could not be selected owing to personal reasons, and they would be in the reckoning for selection in the second World Cup.
The selectors were thoughtful in keeping Birendeep Sodhi who had lost the gold in the national championship in a shoot-off to Manavjit Sandhu in the team, in the MQS section, despite him being placed sixth in the averages.
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Manavjit Sandhu, Zoravar Sandhu and Anirudh Singh make the main trap team.
In double trap, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Ronjan Sodhi and Mohammed Asab formed the main team. While Shayan Masood and Ankur Mittal were given the MQS slots for the first World Cup, the chance went to Syed Ali Bin Hadi and Sanjay Rathore for the second. Similarly, Anantjeet Naruka and Karam Sukhbir Singh will replace Mohammed Hamza Sheikh and Arozepal Sandhu in the MQS section for the second World Cup in men’s skeet.
Man Singh could not take the trials owing to an injury while former national champion Mairaj Ahmad Khan finished sixth in the overall averages, calculated for choosing the team.
The team (for Mexico World Cup):Men:Trap: Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Zoravar Sandhu, Anirudh Singh; MQS: G.S. Sharan and Birendeep Sodhi; Skeet: Parampal Singh Guron, Allan Daniel Peoples, Smit Singh; MQS: Mohd. Hamza Sheikh, Arozepal Sandhu; Double trap: Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Ronjan Sodhi, Mohd. Asab; MQS: Shayan Masood, Ankur Mittal.
Women:Trap: Shreyasi Singh, Seema Tomar, Varsha Varman; MQS: Malika Wig, Shagun Chowdhary; Skeet: Arti Singh, Rashmee Rathore, Saniya Sheikh; MQS: Maheshwari Chauhan.
Chief coach: M. Padmanabhan. Coaches: Amarjang Singh, Ravi Kothari, Marcello Dradi. Manager: M.S. Bhangle.