World Cup Final: Indian air, pistol shooters look to end international season on a high

New Delhi : A 12-member Indian shooting contingent is all set to fire in the prestigious season-ending International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Final (WCF) to be hosted in Doha, Qatar after a mostly Covid-19 induced gap of four years.

A shoot-out amongst the top 15-ranked international shooters, the WCF aims to crown the Shooter of the Year in each of the 12 Olympic disciplines across the Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun categories.

Tuesday will see the first of the two finals as Sarabjot Singh in the men’s and Esha Singh and Divya T.S in the women’s 10m air pistol, aim at the sparkling Lusail Shooting Range, to bring India glory.

"This is an important international competition happening after four years where the best shooters of the year come together for a matchup. So naturally, I would like to perform well in the prestigious event," said Sarabjot Singh after pre-event training under the eagle eyes of coach Samaresh Jung, on Monday.

Esha Singh, currently ranked 10th in the world in women’s air pistol also shared her thoughts after training saying, “I am excited as this is my first World Cup final and some of the top shooters of the world and of all time are competing. I will try and end the year on a high."

Among the top names that Sarabjot will have to contend with at Doha on Tuesday will be the likes of world No.1 and Tokyo silver medallist Damir Mikec of Serbia, reigning world champion Bowen Zhang of China, experienced Turkish pistol ace Ismail Keles and five-time Olympian and Slovakian veteran Juraj Tuzinsky.

Esha and Divya in the women’s air pistol will be up against the likes of world No.1 and Rio Olympic champion Anna Korakaki of Greece, Tokyo gold medallist and reigning world champion Jiang Ranxin of China and Serbian legend Zorana Arunovic, among others in the 15-strong field.

Shotgunners Prithviraj Tondaiman and Ganemat Sekhon, who made the cut in the men’s trap and women’s skeet respectively, also hit the Lusail Shotgun ranges on Monday. They begin their qualification rounds on Wednesday.

A total of 179 athletes from 12 countries are participating in the ISSF World Cup Final Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun, Doha 2023. On the final day of the event on Saturday, November 25, 2023, three special events are also scheduled to be staged purely from an entertainment and competition perspective.