New Delhi, March 25 (IANS) The top international skeet shooters will get into action on the opening day of the opening day of the first Shotgun World Cup of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup series starting in Tangier, Morocco, on Thursday. A 12-member team is all set to represent India in the year’s first ISSF World Cup Shotgun.
Over 270 athletes from 43 countries are in the fray for five gold medals in the five Olympic shotgun events, including reigning world and Olympic champions, eager to test their sharpness ahead of a long and critical international season.
The men’s and women’s skeet shooters fire first with the first 75 targets of the qualification round scheduled for Friday (March 27, 2026), followed by the next 50 targets and finals the day after. The last final, the Trap Mixed Team event, is slated for April 2, 2026.
The Indian shotgun squad last competed as a full team internationally last year at the Athens world championships, where senior pro Zoravar Singh Sandhu won a historic bronze in the men’s trap.
The team reached Moroccan shores on Monday itself, travelling through Cairo in Egypt, and has already had unofficial training sessions at the Tangier Shooting Club ranges, the official venue for the event. Official pre-event training for skeet shooters is scheduled for Thursday.
Speaking ahead of the skeet competitions, national coach Vikram Chopra said, “We came early to acclimatise and also because the team is competing at this level after a long break. Training has been hard and positive, but nothing is better than world-class competition to test your sharpness early in an important year ahead. We hope for a positive start to the year here in Morocco.”
In Tangier, two more seasoned pros, Man Singh and Parampal Singh Guron, will shoulder India’s hopes in the men’s skeet with rookie Jyotiraditya Singh Sisodiya completing the trio. Man, a former Asian champion, will be making a comeback to the team after three years, while Parampal last represented India in 2022. The young Jyotiraditya won a junior bronze in his last international outing at the Shymkent Asian Championships last year and will be raring to go on his senior India debut.
In the women’s skeet Olympian, Maheshwari Chauhan will lead state juniors Darshna and Yashasvi Rathore in vying for medals, in what will be an all-Rajasthan women’s troika.
The Trap team comprises three Olympians, Rajeshwari Kumari among women and Prithviraj Tondaiman and Kynan Chenai among the men. Kirti Gupta and Aashima Ahlawat team up with Rajeshwari, while Bhowneesh Mendiratta will look to add to his kitty of one World Cup silver, in the men’s trap. Prithviraj & Kirti and Kynan & Rajeshwari pair up in the Trap Mixed Team event for India.
–IANS
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