New Delhi: India will be up on a historic journey as the first stage of the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup (Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun) is all set to get underway in New Delhi’s Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range from February 22-March 4, 2017.
The Event
The ISSF World Cup will have eight competition days beginning February 24 till March 3 and will see a participation from 50 nations through a total of 452 athletes. These shooters will take 584 starts, among them reigning and former Olympic Champions, World Champions and Continental Champions lining up against India’s top guns, in a first of its kind historic global shooting competition ever held in the country.
A world-class field has already started assembling in the capital for the season’s First World Cup, interestingly the complete cycle for which also ends in India this year with the World Cup Finals, slated at the same venue in October. Among the world’s top shooters present will be the likes of Diana Bacosi, Gabriele Rosetti, Hoang Xuan Vinh, Mengxue Zhang, Felipe Almeida Wu, Kimberly Rhodes and double Dakar rally champion and Olympic Bronze medalist in Shooting, Nasser Al-Attaiya.
Statements, Q&A
At the pre-launch press conference of the event, Mr. Raninder Singh, President, National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), while speaking to the media at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range, said, “ The sport of Shooting has come a long way in the country and the ISSF World Cup New Delhi 2017 is certainly yet another inflexion point for the sport in the country. We warmly welcome all visiting athletes, officials and delegates. It is a proud moment for all our countrymen and we are confident that our athletes will give their very best to make the tricolor fly high. This would not have been possible without the proactive support of the Government, the Ministry of Sports and the Sports Authority of India and I wish to thank all of them for making this happen.”
Also present during the press conference were former Olympic Bronze medalist Gagan Narang, Olympians Jitu Rai, Heena Sidhu and Kynan Chenai, who will be spearheading the Indian challenge at the ISSF World Cup New Delhi 2017. All of them exuded confidence before the World’s top shooting competition and asserted that while it was a great feeling playing a World Cup at home, both home advantage and pressure of expectations would play a role.
On a question asked about the Budget of the event, Mr. Singh said, “the budget of this event should be lesser to what the Olympic qualifiers had. It should be around 1.25 Cr”
Gagan Narang enters this tournament after fully recovering from the heel injury he sustained before the Rio Olympics. Speaking about the tournament, he said,” It will be an interesting tournament for me. I’m focusing on one event at a time and efforts are on to putting the best foot forward.”
Speaking on how the tournament will impact the young Indian shooters, he added, “this is a great opportunity for young shooters to interact with the best shooters from across the globe. They’ll learn a lot here.”
Jitu Rai, who had attained World No 1 ISSF Ranking in 50 M Free Pistol will be looking forward to the best start of the year at this ISSF World Cup New Delhi 2017. Speaking about the home advantage, he said,”there is nothing like home advantage. But yes, this is happening in India for the first time.”
Speaking about his preparations, he added,”My training is going well. I’m preparing to do well here.”
Kynan Chenai, who’ll be representing India in Trap Shooting, said, “I’m training here for last two months. I think I’m peaking, but let’s see how it goes”
The much awaited event will have its opening ceremony on February 23 and Indian Shooters will be all eager to win hearts post their poor show at the Rio Olympics. Medal matches will be Live-streamed on ISSF website, on their Livestream channel and on its Facebook page.