Will the ISSF Shooting World Cup in Ningbo Showcase India’s Best Talent?

Ningbo (China), Sep 8 (NationPress) - The Indian shooting squad is set to kick off the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup for Rifle and Pistol in Ningbo, China, featuring both rifle and pistol mixed teams on Tuesday at the Ningbo Olympic Sports Center.

India has assembled a robust 24-member team, composed of shooters largely ranked between four and six in the national standings as they step into the final World Cup stage of the year.

Leading the Air Rifle Mixed Team for India will be former Junior World Champion and Olympian Ramita Jindal, teaming up with Junior World Championship medalist Umamahesh Maddineni. Meanwhile, former World No. 1 and Olympian Divyansh Singh Panwar will partner with Meghana M. Sajjanar. This duo aims to replicate the success of Arjun Babuta and Arya Borse, who clinched gold at the previous Munich World Cup.

In the Air Pistol Mixed Team event, Olympian Rhythm Sangwan will join forces with Nishant Rawat, while Amit Sharma partners with Surbhi Rao. This Indian pair previously secured a gold in Lima and a bronze in Buenos Aires through the duo of Suruchi Singh and Saurabh Chaudhary.

The revamped Indian rifle teams will face fierce competition from top international shooters, including Sheng Lihao, the World No. 1 and double Olympic gold medalist, alongside 16-year-old Peng Xinlu, who recently earned silver in the Asian Shooting Championship in both individual and mixed team categories. Partners Lu Dingke and Liyuan Zhang will represent China as the second team, while Jeanette Hegg Duestad from Norway, the World No. 1 in 50m 3P, and Jon-Hermann Hegg, gold medalist from Lima, are also strong contenders.

Other notable participants include World No. 2 Eunji Kwon, Paris silver medalist Hajun Park, and the Korean pairs Yuna Kwon and Junhwan Lee. Additional pairs from neutral countries like Ilia Marsov and Mariia Vasileva, along with Jiri Privratsky and Katerina Stefankova from the Czech Republic, and Olympic champion Chiara Leone with Jan Lochbihler from Switzerland will also compete. In total, 37 pairs will vie for a spot in the medal matches.

In the Mixed Team Pistol event, Indian teams will face tough competition from the Chinese duo of World No. 1 Hu Kai and World No. 2 Yao Qianxun, both of whom have medaled in all three World Cups this year. The second Chinese pair features Ma Qianke and Zhang Yifan. Other significant contenders include Korea's Jiin Yang and Suhyeon Hong, Camille Jedrzejewski and Tom Richard Stepanoff from France, Hungarian pair Veronika Major and Karoly Akos Nagy, and Italian silver medalists Nilo Federico Maldini and Vittoria Toffalini. This event will see 31 pairs competing for four available spots in the medal matches.

The qualification round for the Air Pistol Mixed Team will commence at 7:15 am IST, with finals following at 9:15 am IST. The Air Rifle qualification begins at 10 am IST, with finals scheduled for 12 pm IST.