As many as 15 Indian shooters have qualified for Tokyo Olympics 2021, making it the country’s largest contingent at any Games. This year, hopes are high as three of the shooters belong to the tricity. Chandigarh’s first female shooter Anjum Moudgil will take part in 50m Rifle 3 position; Yashaswini Singh Deswal of Panchkula will participate in 10m Air Pistol, mixed team; and Angad Veer Singh Bajwa of Dera Bassi in Men’s Skeet, Individual.
The National Shooting Committee of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) released the list of the Indian shooting contingent for the Tokyo Olympics on April 4.
Moudgil will participate in the 50-meter rifle 3 position event, which is considered toughest of all rifle events. The competitor has to shoot 40 shots each in kneeling, prone and standing in that order.
The 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games silver-medallist is banking on her low heart rate, an indicator of high fitness level to tackle the Olympics. According to Ashok Ahuja, former head of the sports medicine centre in Patiala’s National Institute of Sports (NIS), the lower pulse rate means the shooter wouldn’t get tired as the heart can pump more blood to the system per minute. Anjum has a passion for fitness. Her training drills include core with own body weight, balancing exercise and weight training five times a week. This is besides spending a couple of hours each day at the shooting ranges.
She took up shooting while studying in Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School in Chandigarh. She completed her graduation and post graduation in humanities from DAV College, Chandigarh.
Yashaswini Singh Deswal, a resident of Panchkula, will compete in the 10-meter air pistol at the Olympics. She has studied at DAV College, Sector 10. She won the gold medal in the 10 metre air pistol event at the 2019 ISSF World Cup in Rio de Janeiro and secured a quota position for India at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Angad Veer Singh Bajwa will compete in the skeet men’s event at the Olympics. At the 2015 Asian Shooting Championships in Kuwait City, Angad Vir Singh Bajwa won the Gold medal in the Men’s Skeet Junior Individual Event by shooting 121/125 and set the new Asian Junior Record. Angad Bajwa also won Gold in the Men’s Junior Skeet – Team event along with team mates Anant Naruka and Arjun Mann.
Bajwa participated in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta where he shot 119 out of 125 and failed to qualify for the final. He won the Gold medal at the 2018 Asian Shotgun Championships in Kuwait City by shooting a World Record of 60/60 in the final round of the Men’s Skeet competition. This was India’s first ever Gold Medal in the skeet discipline in a continental or world-level tournament.
