ISSF World Cup: Indian shooters aim to score big in season opener
Taking aim first up alongside men's pistol will be the shooters in men's and women's skeet events at the Tiro Federal Argentino de Buenos Aires Shooting Range.;
BUENOS AIRES: Comeback man Saurabh Chaudhary will be the cynosure of all eyes in the Indian shooting contingent as Team India begins the campaign in the ISSF World Cup with the men's 10m pistol and skeet competitions here on Thursday.
Taking aim first up alongside men's pistol will be the shooters in men's and women's skeet events at the Tiro Federal Argentino de Buenos Aires Shooting Range.
Day one of competitions will also see the first of 15 finals with a top-class men's 10m air pistol field including three Indians -- Chaudhary, Ravinder Singh and Varun Tomar -- looking to give their respective countries a golden start in the year's first ISSF World Cup.
The men's and women's skeet competitions meanwhile will have only the first two qualifying rounds comprising 25 targets each played out on day one.
Over 400 shooters, including a galaxy of reigning and former Olympic and world champions from as many as 45 countries, will compete for 15 gold medals on offer, looking to begin the year on a high.
The first final
The men's air pistol field is 40-strong and is probably the only event having all three 2024 Paris Games medallists, slated to start wit China's Olympic champion Xie Yu and Italians Federico Maldini and Paolo Monna who won silver and bronze respectively.
If that is not competition enough for the Indian trio led by the mercurial Chaudhary, who is on an international comeback trail, the likes of former Olympic champion Christian Reitz of Germany, Serbian legend Damir Mikec, Brazil's Olympic medallist Filipe Almeida Wu and the consistent Kazakh Nikita Chiryukin, make the field one of the toughest in recent years.
Indian coach Samaresh Jung was confident of the performance of his wards saying, "They have been competing and training hard throughout the year, not only in our camps and after reaching here. Some of the boys also had a fun workout competing in some local matches that were organised between South American nations who had arrived early.
"They know what is expected of them and we are confident of a good showing. At this level the field is always strong."
---
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
April 3, Thursday
Skeet Women 50 Targets - 5:00 PM
10m Air Pistol Men - 5:45 PM
Skeet Men 50 Targets - 6:00 PM
Final 10m Air Pistol Men - 8:00 PM
The competition can be watched live on ISSF YouTube channel