The 32nd Olympic Games, which have been postponed for a year, are slated to begin next week. The Games' opening ceremony will take place on July 23 at Tokyo's newly built National Stadium, while the closing ceremony will take place on August 8. This time around, India had a record amount of 119 competitors in its official contingent, up two from their total of 117 athletes at the 2016 Rio Olympics. There are 67 male athletes and 52 female athletes among the 119 Indian athletes. For the 2018 Summer Olympics, India is sending a large shooting team. From now on, all eyes will be on India's shooting team, which has emerged as the country's best gold medal prospect.
This optimism stems from the Indian contingent's steady performances over the last few years, including this Olympic cycle, which began with the 2018 World Championships. In Tokyo, India will field a record-breaking 15-member rifle, pistol, and shotgun team. With many current and previous world No. 1 and World Cup gold medalists, this is the largest and most prolific Indian shooting presence at the Olympic Games. They are a mostly youthful team, with all but four players competing in their first Olympics. Here we take a look at the full schedule of India’s shooting in the upcoming Summer Olympics. Before that, let’s check out the shooters who have qualified for the event.
Indian Shooting Contingent:
10m Air Rifle Men - Deepak Kumar
10m Air Rifle Men - Divyansh Singh Panwar
50m Rifle 3 Positions Men - Sanjeev Rajput
50m Rifle 3 Positions Men - Aishwarya Pratap Singh Tomar
10m Air Pistol Men - Saurabh Chaudhary
10m Air Pistol Men - Abhishek Verma
Skeet Men - Angad Vir Singh Bajwa
Skeet Men - Mairaj Ahmad Khan
10m Air Rifle Women - Apurvi Chandela
10m Air Rifle Women - Elavenil Valarivan
50m Rifle 3 Positions Women - Anjum Moudgil
50m Rifle 3 Positions Women - Tejaswini Sawant
10m Air Pistol Women - Manu Bhaker
10m Air Pistol Women - Yashaswini Singh Deswal
25m Pistol Women - Manu Bhaker
25m Pistol Women - Rahi Sarnobat
10m Air Pistol Mixed Team - Divyansh Singh Panwar / Elavenil Valarivan
10m Air Pistol Mixed Team - Deepak Kumar / Anjum Moudgil
10m Air Rifle Mixed Team - Saurabh Chaudhary / Manu Bhaker
10m Air Rifle Mixed Team - Abhishek Verma / Yashaswini Singh Deswal
The last two times the Indian shooting team competed in a multi-discipline event, at the Commonwealth and Asian Games in 2018, they brought home a record number of individual medals. The 15-member shooting squad is led by teens who surprised the shooting world with their exploits as teenagers, alongside veterans who had to stage late-career comebacks to make the cut. The shooting squad is 28 years old on average, with three teenagers and three players in their 40s. Let's take a look at India's entire shooting schedule.
Tokyo Olympics India Shooting Full Schedule (all timings in IST):
24th July 2021:
Women’s 10m Air Rifle Qualification - Elavenil Valarivan, Apurvi Chandela, from 5 AM
Men’s 10m Air Pistol Qualification - Saurabh Chaudhary, Abhishek Verma, from 9:30 AM
Women’s 10m Air Rifle Final - Elavenil Valarivan, Apurvi Chandela (if qualify), from 10:15 AM
Men’s 10m Air Pistol Final - Saurabh Chaudhary, Abhishek Verma (if qualify), from 12 PM
25th July 2021:
Women’s 10m Air Pistol Qualification - Manu Bhaker, Yashaswini Singh Deswal, from 5:30 AM
Skeet Men’s Qualification Day 1 - Angad Vir Singh Bajwa, Mairaj Ahmed Khan, from 6 AM
Women’s 10m Air Pistol Final - Manu Bhaker, Yashaswini Singh Deswal (if qualify), from 7:45 AM
Men’s 10m Air Rifle Qualification - Deepak Kumar, Divyansh Singh Panwar, from 9:30 AM
Men’s 10m Air Rifle Final - Deepak Kumar, Divyansh Singh Panwar (if qualify), from 12 PM
Skeet Men’s Qualification Day 2 - Angad Vir Singh Bajwa, Mairaj Ahmed Khan, from 6:30 AM
Skeet Men’s Final - Angad Vir Singh Bajwa, Mairaj Ahmed Khan, from 12:10 PM
26th July 2021:
10m Air Pistol Mixed Team Qualification - Saurabh Chaudhary/Manu Bhaker, Abhishek Verma/Yashaswini Singh Deswal, from 5:30 AM
10m Air Pistol Mixed Team Bronze and Gold Medal Matches - Saurabh Chaudhary/Manu Bhaker, Abhishek Verma/Yashaswini Singh Deswal, from 7:30 AM
10m Air Rifle Mixed Team Qualification - Divyansh Singh Panwar/Elavenil Valarivan, Deepak Kumar/Anjum Moudgil, from 9:45 AM
10m Air Rifle Mixed Team Bronze and Gold Medal Matches - Divyansh Singh Panwar/Elavenil Valarivan, Deepak Kumar/Anjum Moudgil (if qualify), from 11:45 AM
29th July 2021:
Women’s 25m Pistol Qualification Precision - Manu Bhaker, Rahi Sarnobat, from 5:30 AM
30th July 2021:
Women’s 25m Pistol Qualification Rapid - Manu Bhaker, Rahi Sarnobat, from 5:30 AM
Women’s 25m Pistol Final - Manu Bhaker, Rahi Sarnobat (if qualify), from 10:20 AM
31st July 2021:
Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Position Qualification - Anjum Moudgil, Tejaswini Sawant, from 8:30 AM
Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Position Final - Anjum Moudgil, Tejaswini Sawant (if qualify), from 1:30 PM
2nd August 2021:
Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Position Qualification - Sanjeev Rajput, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, from 7 AM
Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Position Final - Sanjeev Rajput, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (if qualify), from 1:10 PM
Also Read | Indian wrestlers in Tokyo Olympics 2020 and their schedule and Full list of Indian athletes qualified for the Olympics 2020
