India at Paris 2024 Olympics: 5 shooters who are most likely to win a medal
A few days back India announced their shooting contingent for the upcoming Paris Olympics 2024. Notably, India have 21 slots to offer at the grand stage but have announced only 15 names till now. Six more shooters will be added after ISSF World Cup comes to a close.
India will field some prominent names in the form of Manu Bhaker, Sarabjot Singh and Esha Singh. But, a few athletes will also miss out on the Summer Games like Tilottama Sen and Rudrankksh Patil.
Today, we will look at five medal hopefuls from India's shooting contingent at the Paris Olympics:
#1 Manu Bhaker
22-year-old Manu Bhaker, who is also the youngest Indian to bag a gold medal at the ISSF World Cup, will be partaking in her second Olympics, after she couldn't yield much in the 2020 Games. Moreover, she is also a Youth Olympics gold-medalist, a feat she achieved at Buenos Aires in 2018.
This time the former Commonwealth Games' gold-medalist will be participating in both women's 10m air pistol and 25m pistol events and will aim to salvage her first senior Olympics gold medal.
#2 Esha Singh
A silver-medalist at the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023, 19-year-old Esha Singh will be debuting at the showpiece event next month. A sporting journey, which started with the likes of badminton and tennis among others, prompted Singh to take up shooting later.
Speaking of her achievements so far, she along with aforementioned Manu Bhaker were part of the Indian team which secured gold at the ISSF World Championships in 2023. At the Asian Games last year, she secured two silver medals - 10m air pistol and 25m pistol events. At the Paris Olympics, she will participate only in the women's 25m pistol event.
#3 Ramita Jindal
20-year-old Ramita Jindal became the talk of the town when she secured a bronze medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year. She achieved this feat in the 10m air rifle discipline.
In May, she achieved her qualification to the Paris Olympics, after she recorded a score of 636.4 in the trials.
#4 Sarabjot Singh
It hasn't yet been a week that Sarabjot Singh has secured a gold in the ISSF World Cup 2024. This of course, is a major triumph, but Singh will have to deliver more in the upcoming month. The 22-year-old shooter was part of the Indian team which won gold in the 10m air pistol discipline at the Asian Games.
Now, with a recent notable success, which will also act a morale booster to the shooter, Sarabjot Singh will aim to replicate the same heroics in the Paris Olympics, when he takes the stage in the men's 10m air pistol event.
#5 Arjun Babuta
This will be Arjun Babuta's debut Olympics campaign. The 25-year-old earned qualification for the Summer Games after he won silver at the Asian Shooting Championships in 2023.
Babuta, who has won gold in the ISSF Youth World Cup 2016 and the World University Games in 2021, will be aiming to surprise everyone at the Paris Olympics and bring home a medal to make his coaches D.S. Chandel and Reepali Reshpande happy.