Cairo, April 20 (NationPress) Junior shooters are set to kick off their season with a thrilling competition for two medals in the 10m Air Rifle Women and 10m Air Pistol Men events on the inaugural day of the ISSF Junior World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun taking place at the Egypt International Olympic City.

India has dispatched a formidable squad of 71 shooters, with an initial contingent of 58 athletes and support personnel arriving in Cairo on Sunday.

The opening day of the event features the 25m Pistol Precision stage for both genders, alongside 75 skeet targets for men and women. The qualification rounds are set to commence at 12:30 PM IST (9 AM local time), followed by the qualification for the 10m Air Rifle Women, marking the first medal event of the day at 12:45 PM IST (9:15 AM local time), with the final slated for 3:30 PM IST (12 Noon local time). The second medal event, the 10m Air Pistol Men, is scheduled to start at 3:00 PM IST (11:30 AM local time), concluding with the final at 5:45 PM IST (2:15 PM).

In the 10m Air Rifle Women event, India will see participation from six athletes, spearheaded by Shambhavi Kshirsagar, the Asian Junior record holder and reigning 2025 ISSF World Cup Suhl champion. She will compete alongside Anushka Thokur, the 2025 Asian Champion in 50m Rifle 3 Positions, as well as Manyata Singh and Aneesha Sharma, silver and bronze medalists from the 2026 Asian Championships, along with Anvii Rathod, a bronze medalist from the 2024 Asian Championships, and Panaah Bhugra.

The 10m Air Pistol Men’s event will also feature six Indian athletes, led by Shiva Narwal, a former Junior World Champion and 2023 World Championship gold medalist in the mixed category, returning to international competition after a three-year hiatus. The team also includes Abhinav Deshwal, champion at the Deaflympics 2025, alongside Abhinav Choudhary, Abhay Dhama, Himanshu Rana, and 17-year-old Chirag Sharma.

Each nation is allowed a maximum of three athletes to advance to the final, determined by their top three rankings after the qualification phase.

Sameer Gulia, a medallist at both the World Championship and Junior World Championship, is a prominent figure in India’s 25m Pistol team. In the men's category, participants include Abhinav Choudhary, Sahil Choudhary, Sagnik Banerjee, Pranshu Suryavanshi, and Bhanu Pratap Singh Shekhawat, while the women's event will feature Parisha Gupta, Anjali Mahendra Bhagwat, Agam Kaur Grewal, Manvi Jain, Sejal Kamble, and Shikha Chaudhary.

In the Skeet event, India will be represented by five male shooters: Zoarawar Singh Bedi, Harviraj Singh, Ishaan Singh Libra, Yashvardhan Singh Rajawat, and Anjaneya Singh Mandawa, along with four female athletes: Risham Kaur Guron, Parmeet Kaur, Agrima Kanwar, and Sanyogita Shekhawat, competing on Tuesday.

A total of 284 athletes from 25 countries are set to compete in Cairo, with India fielding the largest team. The host nation, Egypt, has a squad of 29 members, while Russia, competing as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN), has entered a robust team of 43. Other notable shooting nations with significant representations include France (24), Great Britain (16), and Italy (13).

With the Junior World Championships approaching in June in Suhl, Germany, this presents an invaluable chance for Indian juniors to solidify their standing for this prestigious event.