Shooting sports in India

Shooting sports in India
Shooting sports in India
Governing body	The National Rifle Association of India
International competitions
	Olympics: Abhinav Bindra: Gold, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore: Silver, Vijay Kumar: Silver, Gagan Narang: Bronze; Commonwealth Games: Template:World1 Gold: Abhinav Bindra, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Gagan Narang, Heena Sidhu, Apurvi Chandela; ISSF World Shooting Championships: Template:World1 Gold: Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang, Anjali Bhagwat; Asian Games: Template:Asia1 Gold: Jitu Rai, Saurabh Chaudhary;

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Shooting is an important Olympic sport in India. Of India's 35 Olympic medals, four have come from shooting, including a gold by Abhinav Bindra in the 2008 Olympics. Indian shooters who have excelled at international events include Abhinav Bindra, Jaspal Rana, Jitu Rai, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Vijay Kumar, Gagan Narang, Apurvi Chandela, Ronjan Sodhi, Anjali Bhagwat, Heena Sidhu, Shreyasi Singh, Manu Bhaker, Anisa Sayyed, Rahi Sarnobat and Saurabh Chaudhary.

History[edit]

Shooting sports have a varied history in India. Initially they were played by royal people of British India for amusement and recreation. The highest governing body of shooting sports in India is National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), which was established on 17 April 1951. From then on India achieved some success in the Olympic games by winning a Gold. But largely this sport is not affordable to command Indians because of a lack of shooting ranges and facilities in the country.^[1]

2012 Olympics[edit]

The Indian shooting contingent for the 2012 London was one of the largest to date. There were a total of 11 shooters including 4 female shooters. India's first medal in the 2012 Olympics was when Gagan Narang won the bronze in the 10m Air Rifle event.^[2] This was the same event in which Abhinav Bindra won India's first individual gold medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics Beijing. The second medal came from the unheralded army man Vijay Kumar when he won the silver in the 25m rapid fire pistol event after finishing 4th in the qualification rounds.^[3] He had to fend off some tough competition from the third placed Chinese Ding Feng.

A notable performance was made by Joydeep Karmakar who finished 4th in the 50m rifle prone event. A strong medal prospect Ronjan Sodhi who is an Asian Games gold medallist, however crashed out in the qualification rounds of the Double trap event.^[4]

Medal winners at Summer Olympics[edit]

Games	Event	Name	Medal
2004 Athens	Men's double trap	Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore	Silver
2008 Beijing	Men's 10m Air Rifle	Abhinav Bindra	Gold
2012 London	Men's 10m Air Rifle	Gagan Narang	Bronze
2012 London	Men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol	Vijay Kumar	Silver

Total medals won by Indian Shooters in Major tournaments[edit]

Competition	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Olympics	1	2	1	4
World Championships	5	8	4	17
World Cup Final	9	5	3	17
World Cup	51	40	40	131
Asian Games	9	21	28	58
Commonwealth Games	63	44	28	135
Total	138	120	104	362

Other Notable Performances at Summer Olympics[edit]

Year	Event	Player	Result
2000
2000	Women's 10 metre air rifle	Anjali Bhagwat	8th
2004
	Men's 10 metre air rifle	Abhinav Bindra	7th
	Women's 10 metre air rifle	Suma Shirur	8th
2012
2012	Men's 50 metre rifle prone	Joydeep Karmakar	4th
2016
	Men's 10 metre air rifle	Abhinav Bindra	4th
	Men's 10 metre air pistol	Jitu Rai	8th
2020
2020	Men's 10 metre air pistol	Saurabh Chaudhary	7th

Administration[edit]

The sport is administered in India by The National Rifle Association of India. The association organises the following tournaments every year:

National Shooting Championship Competitions (NSCC)
All India G.V. Mavlankar Shooting Championship (AIGVMSC)
Sardar Sajjan Singh Sethi Memorial Masters Shooting Championship
Kumar Surendra Singh Memorial Shooting Championship
All India Kumar Surendra Singh Memorial Inter School Shooting Championship

References[edit]

↑ New Delhi, Rifle association of India. "NRAI : History". Retrieved 11 August 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
↑ "Narang wins bronze". Indian Express. 30 July 2012.
↑ "Vijay Kumar wins silver". Hindustan Times. 3 August 2012. Archived from the original on 6 August 2012.
↑ "Sodhi crashes out". The Hindu. 2 August 2012.