Indian shooting squad for ISSF Olympic qualification championship announced

One of the Indian participants in the ISSF Olympics ongoing qualification competitions March 16, 2024. PHOTO: videograb X @issf_official

India has a chance to secure four more shotgun Paris Olympics 2024 quotas as a 12-man shooting contingent, headed by Commonwealth Games champion Shreyasi Singh and Olympian Mairaj Ahmad, was announced for the ISSF Final Olympic Qualification Championship starting in Doha, Qatar, from next month.

The meet in Doha will take place from April 19 to 29 and will feature two shotgun events- trap and skeet. So far, 19 Paris Olympics quotas have come India’s way. Indian shotgun squad has four quotas out of these 19, two each in trap and skeet.

As per the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), this 12-member squad will also be playing in other important international events leading up to Paris 2024.

Three more tournaments will be played leading up to the Summer Olympics taking place from July 26-August 11 this year, which includes the Green Cup Shotgun in Umbria and the ISSF World Cup in Baku in May.

In June, Indian shooters will also be played in Lonato during the Shotgun World Cup. Quota holding shooters Bhowneesh Mendiratta (men’s trap), Rajeshwari Kumari (women’s trap), Anant Jeet Singh Naruka (men’s skeet) and Raiza Dhillon (women’s skeet) will be competing at the event.

India’s shotgun hopefuls are at a technical training camp in Delhi currently, which will be followed by a preparation camp before their departure for Doha.

-ISSF FINAL OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION CHAMPIONSHIP SHOTGUN 2024: INDIAN TEAM

Trap

Men: Prithviraj Tondaiman, Vivaan Kapoor, Zoravar Singh Sandhu

Women: Shreyasi Singh, Manisha Keer, Neeru

Skeet

Men: Mairaj Ahmad Khan, Sheeraz Sheikh, Angad Vir Singh Bajwa

Women: Ganemat Sekhon, Maheshwari Chauhan, Areeba Khan. Indian shooting squad for ISSF Olympic qualification championship announced

Read More........ → March 21, 2024

Sinner, Alcaraz demolish Indian Wells opponents

INDIAN WELLS - Reigning Grand Slam champions Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz turned in dominating performances on Sunday to roll into the fourth round of the ATP-WTA Indian Wells Masters. The two hottest young racquets in the sport showed no mercy in quick-fire victories with Australian Open champion Sinner overwhelming Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 6-4. "Almost perfect" Alcaraz, the reigning Wimbledon champion, stepped up his 2023 title defense with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime. The world number two Spaniard allowed his Canadian opponent no room to move, reaching the fourth round with his eighth match win in a row at the event. "It was almost the perfect match for me," said Alcaraz, who broke Auger-Aliassime's serve four times. "I moved well, played aggressively and had fewer mistakes." Sinner was equally ruthless as he attacked Struff, with the Italian winning his 17th match in succession dating to his country's Davis Cup victory in November. Both of the young guns needed barely an hour and a quarter to claim their victories. Sinner fired 27 winners past Struff, whose style gave the third seed a target on court. "We prepared very well, I tried to learn his moves," Sinner said. "I played well and served well under pressure. "Overall I can be really happy about today, I felt really good on the court." Alcaraz won the last five games of the opening set and broke to start the second on his way to repeating his win over Auger-Aliassime from the 2023 quarter-finals. The second seed finished off victory on his first match point as Auger-Aliassime hit the net with his 23rd unforced error. It was a welcome show of strength from Alcaraz, who hasn't won a title since winning his second Grand Slam with a stunning triumph over Novak Djokovic at the All England Club last year. He exited the Australian Open in the quarter-finals then lost in the semi-finals at Buenos Aires last month before spraining his ankle and retiring from his opening match in Rio de Janeiro. "I played at a really high level of tennis, so much higher than the first round," the Spaniard said. "Hopefully (I'll) keep climbing (raising) my level." Alcaraz may still be feeling the effects of the ankle, which has left him short of 2024 match play."My confidence has gone down a little bit, I've been struggling during the practice every day," he admitted. "I'm trying to keep my confidence as high as I can."Sinner, Alcaraz demolish Indian Wells opponents

Read More........ → March 11, 2024

England’s meltdown: India dims UK’s “Bazball” aura

Cricket – Fourth Test – India v England – JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi, India – February 26, 2024 India’s Ravindra Jadeja in action as England’s Ben Foakes look on REUTERS/Amit Dave

RANCHI-India have remained test cricket’s most tourist-unfriendly destination for over a decade and even England’s gung-ho ‘Bazball’ approach could not change that reality on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024.

India’s five-wicket victory on a spiteful track in Ranchi was not really a cakewalk, thanks to England’s never-say-die spin attack.

But it fetched Rohit Sharma’s team an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series, and consolidated their second place, behind New Zealand, in the World Test Championship standings.Cricket – Fourth Test – India v England – JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi, India – February 26, 2024 India’s Shubman Gill in action REUTERS/Amit Dave

This was India’s 17th consecutive test series win at home, where they have not lost a test series since an Alastair Cook-led England bested them in 2012.

For England, who won the opening test in Hyderabad and have been competitive as well as entertaining in Visakhapatnam and Ranchi — it was their first series defeat under captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum.

India will be particularly happy they clinched the series despite the absence of batting mainstay Virat Kohli (personal reason) and frontline seamer Mohammed Shami (injury).

Middle order batter KL Rahul missed tests after hurting himself in the Hyderabad opener, while they rested pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah for the match in Ranchi to manage his workload.

It forced India to field four debutants in the first four matches and three of them — wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel, batter Sarfaraz Khan, and seamer Akash Deep — impressed immediately.

Player-of-the-match Jurel struck 90 in the first innings to kept India alive in the contest and his unbroken 72-run stand with Shubman Gill on Monday helped India pull off a nervy chase.

“Obviously it’s a big challenge to play test cricket. We all know that,” Rohit said.

“Dhruv Jurel, playing his second game, showed solid composure and calmness. He has got the shots as well and played all round the wicket.”

ENGLAND’S MELTDOWN

Cricket – Fourth Test – India v England – JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi, India – February 26, 2024 England’s Joe Root appeals unsuccessfully for the wicket of India’s Ravindra Jadeja REUTERS/Amit Dave

In a match where there were hardly any dull moments, England’s second innings meltdown left India needing 192 runs to win.

The hosts raced to 84 for no loss before Shoaib Bashir’s triple strikes turned the match on its head reducing India to 120-5.

On a pitch where the ball turned sharply and often kept low, Jurel and Gill proved immovable despite the mounting pressure.

They gritted their teeth through a 30-over stretch when they could not hit a single boundary in a defensive masterclass on a treacherous track.

Gill, an all-format batter known for his clean-hitting prowess, showed immaculate match awareness and did not hit a boundary in the first 119 balls he faced.

When victory was in sight, the elegant right-hander smacked Bashir for two sixes in the same over en route to his fifty.

Cricket – Fourth Test – India v England – JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi, India – February 26, 2024 England’s Ollie Pope takes the catch to dismiss India’s Rajat Patidar, off the bowling of Shoaib Bashir REUTERS/Amit Dave

Several former England captains believe England need to temper their ‘Bazball’ approach, but Stokes was happy with the commitment of his team mates.

“The scoreline says India win by five wickets but I don’t think that gives enough credit to sum up the game as a whole,” Stokes said.

“The series has shown a lot of talent, for us and India. I love test cricket and we’ve seen some young, inexperienced players perform and the future looks bright in this format.”The fifth and final test, scheduled in Dharamsala, begins on March 7. England’s meltdown: India dims UK’s “Bazball” aura

Read More........ → February 27, 2024