ISSF World C'ships: Manu Bhaker, Neeru Dhanda headline India's Olympic quota hunt

As per Olympics.com, the world championships, featuring rifle, pistol and shotgun shooters, will see 36 Olympic quotas at stake, with three available in each of 12 Olympic shooting events.

Two-time Olympic champion Manu Bhaker and in-form Asian Games star Neeru Dhanda will headline the Indian challenge at the ISSF World Championship in Doha, Qatar, starting from November 1, with the event starting the qualification pathway for shooters for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. As per Olympics.com, the world championships, featuring rifle, pistol and shotgun shooters, will see 36 Olympic quotas at stake, with three available in each of 12 Olympic shooting events.

With the team representation being the authority of the national federations, the athletes earning their countries an LA2028 Olympics quota would not guarantee their participation, with the national federations given authority to select them or not. The World Championships will be the biggest qualification opportunity of the LA 2028 cycle in shooting. As many as 54 Indian shooters will be competing across several Olympic and non-Olympic events at Doha. India will be featuring across all 12 Olympic disciplines, with a total of 35 Indian shooters in action, including Manu in action in women’s 10m air pistol and 25m pistol competition.

The non-Olympic events will witness 19 Indians in action. Neeru will be heading into Doha after an incredible Asian Games 2026 campaign in Japan, winning two historic trap gold medals and a silver. Asian Games mixed 10 m air pistol gold medalists Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet Sohlot will also be in action.

Amongst the participants in the women's and men's 10 m air rifle will be the Asian Games silver medallists Elavenil Valarivan and Himanshu Dhillon. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar will feature in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions, while Olympian Anjum Moudgil will feature in the women’s event. India's shotgun challenge will also feature Anant Jeet Singh Naruka in the men's skeet competition. Paris Olympics 2024 bronze medalist Swapnil Kusale will also be competing, but will be featuring in the non-Olympic men's 50 m rifle prone event. Sarabjot Singh, another Paris 2024 bronze medallist, has not made it to the squad.

ISSF World Championship 2026: India squad*Olympic events -Men’s 10m air rifle: Parth Mane, Himanshu Dhillon, Paarth Makhija-Women’s 10m air rifle: Shambhavi Kshirsagar, Sonam Maskar, Elavenil Valarivan-Men’s 50m rifle 3 positions: Niraj Kumar, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Akhil Sheoran-Women’s 50m rifle 3 positions: Vidarsa K Vinod, Ashi Chouksey, Anjum Moudgil-Men’s 10m air pistol: Ravin Kumar, Jaypal Malviya, Kamaljeet Sohlot-Women’s 10m air pistol: Sainyam Vij, Suruchi Singh, Manu Bhaker-Men’s 25m rapid fire pistol: Suraj Sharma, Gurpreet Singh, Bhavesh Shekhawat-Women’s 25m pistol: Esha Singh, Manu Bhaker, Divya TS-Men’s skeet: Mairaj Ahmad Khan, Bhavtegh Singh Gill, Anant Jeet Singh Naruka-Women’s skeet: Parinaaz Dhaliwal, Ganemat Sekhon, Raiza Dhillon-Men’s trap: Zoravar Singh Sandhu, Vivaan Kapoor, Udaivir Singh Jaijee-Women’s trap: Neeru Dhanda, Manisha Keer, Pragati Dubey-10m air rifle mixed team: Parth Mane-Shambhavi Kshirsagar, Himanshu Dhillon-Sonam Maskar-10m air pistol mixed team: Ravin Kumar-Sainyam, Jaypal Malviya-Suruchi Singh-Skeet mixed team: Mairaj Ahmad Khan-Raiza Dhillon, Bhavtegh Singh Gill-Ganemat Sekhon-Trap mixed team: Zoravar Singh Sandhu-Neeru Dhanda, Vivaan Kapoor-Manisha Keer

*Non-Olympic events -Men’s 50m rifle prone: Sidharth Gaur, Swapnil Kusale, Akhil Sheoran-Women’s 50m rifle prone: Ayushi Podder, Priya Singh, Sift Kaur Samra-Men’s 50m pistol: Saurabh Chaudhary, Amanpreet Singh, Ravinder Singh-Women’s 50m pistol: Aishwarya Balehosur, Parisha Gupta-Men’s 25m centre fire pistol: Amanpreet Singh, Ankur Goel, Rajkanwar Singh Sandhu-Men’s 25m standard pistol: Harsh Gupta, Jatin, Udit Joshi-Women’s 25m standard pistol: Simranpreet Kaur Brar, Manvi Jain, Niveditha Nair. (ANI)