National Selection Trials 3 and 4 commences; India's top shooters in action

Dehradun, June 24: India's top shooters will be seen in action as the National Selection Trials 3 and 4 for Group 'A' athletes commenced on Tuesday at the Trishul Shooting Range, Maharana Pratap Sports College, Raipur, Dehradun. These trials will help shape the Indian shooting team for the 16th Asian Shooting Championships 2025 in Kazakhstan in August and the ISSF World Cup in Ningbo, China in September.

The first day of the trials will see the Stage 1 qualifying round of Rapid Fire Pistol Men, which has been divided into three relays. On the second day of competitions, three finals of T3, 10m Air Rifle Men, 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men and 50m 3 Positions Women are scheduled.

The shooters enter this selection phase following an encouraging run in the double-legged South American ISSF World Cup tour, which marked the beginning of the new international calendar and the recently concluded Munich leg of the World Cup. Across all three legs in Argentina, Peru, and Munich, Indian shooters reached 39 finals, including mixed-team medal rounds, and brought home 19 gold medals.

Suruchi Inder Singh, who created history by becoming the first Indian to win gold in three consecutive world cups, Munich gold medalists Arya Borse and Arjun Babuta, Olympic medalists Manu Bhaker, Sarabjot Singh and Swapnil Kusale, current World Cup medalists Saurabh Chaudhary, Rudrankksh Patil, Elavenil Valarivan, Sift Kaur Samra, Vijayveer Sidhu and Chain Singh along with prominent names like Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Sandeep Singh, Varun Tomar and Kiran Ankush Yadav will be present for the trials.

As per the selection Criteria, only eligible shooters in Group "A" will be allowed to participate. The Selection Trials 3 and 4 will cover all Olympic Rifle and Pistol events and will be limited to a select group of top-ranked shooters. This includes 50 slots each for 10m Air Rifle (Men & Women) and 10m Air Pistol (Men & Women), 30 slots each for 50m Rifle 3 Positions (Men and Women), 20 slots for 25m Rapid Fire Pistol (Men), and 30 slots for 25m Sport Pistol (Women).

Reader Comments

Here are 6 diverse Indian perspective comments for the shooting trials article:

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Rajesh K.

Our shooters are making India proud globally! 🇮🇳 The performance in South American World Cup was outstanding. Hope we continue this golden streak in Asian Championships and beyond. Special shoutout to Suruchi Inder Singh - three consecutive golds is no joke!

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Priya M.

Why are these trials only in Dehradun? Would be better if they rotated venues across India. Many talented shooters from South India can't always travel so far. Still, best wishes to all participants! Hope to see more women medalists this time.

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Amit S.

Shooting is becoming India's strongest Olympic sport after badminton. The depth of talent is amazing - from veterans like Manu Bhaker to newcomers like Arya Borse. But we need better TV coverage for these trials. #SupportIndianShooters

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Sunita R.

The selection criteria seems very strict with limited slots. While it maintains quality, hope they don't miss out on dark horse talents. Our shooters have proved themselves in China before (Ningbo World Cup), so looking forward to September!

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Vikram J.

19 golds in World Cup is no small achievement! But remember, China will be tough competition in their home ground. Our shooters should prepare mentally for that pressure. Jai Hind!

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Neha T.

So proud to see Indian women shooters dominating! 👏 Elavenil, Sift, Manu - you're inspiring millions of girls. Hope DD Sports or Sony shows highlights at least. These athletes deserve more recognition than cricket sometimes!

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