A total of 66 athletes, representing 21 National Olympic Committees will enter the finals hall of the Dr. Karni Shooting Range in New Delhi, where the first stage of the 2017 ISSF World Cup Series is taking place until March 4th.
Two events are expected to take place today: the 10m Air Pistol Women and the 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men.
10m Air Pistol Women
A high level of competition is expected in the first event of the day, the women’s 10m Air Pistol.
Olympic Gold medalist Zhang Mengxue of the People’s Republic of China, currently 1st in the ISSF World Ranking in this event, will be naturally among the contenders, leading a stellar Chinese selection that will also enlist Zhang Jingjing, reigning World Champion in the women’s 25m Pistol event, and Lin Yuemei, Silver medalist at the 2016 Asian Championship in Tehran (IRI).
Untarnished shooter Maria Grozdeva of Bulgaria, a three-time World Cup Gold medalist in this event, will headline a trio of talented European shooters composed by Switzerland’s Heidi Diethelm Gerber, actually a specialist of the 25m event, and Germany’s youngster Michelle Skeries, Bronze medalist at last year’s Junior World Cup in Suhl (GER).
Chasing the first World Cup podium of her career, Chinese Taipei’s Yu Ai Wen will try to follow the path blazed by her teammate Tien Chia Chen, who instead climbed on the Air Pistol podium six times, the latest being in Bangkok (THA) in 2016.
The home team will be led by 2013 ISSF World Cup Final champion Heena Sidhu, accompanied by Harven Srao and Priyanka Susvirkar.
50m Rifle 3 Positions Men
The men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions is an event seeking for a leader in New Delhi, as only one of the shooters who won a medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and at the 2016 ISSF World Cup Final in Bologna (ITA), will be among the competitors.
Hui Zicheng of the People’s Republic of China, indeed, will be the undoubted favorite for the Gold medal, leading a Chinese selection where both Pan Junhui and Sun Jian will make their first appearance ever on the international scene.
Germany’s Andre Link, a gold medalist at the ISSF World Cup stage in Munich (GER) two years ago, will also be among the contenders for a spot in the final, and probably for a podium position, while Hungary’s Peter Sidi and Iran’s Pourya Norouziyan, after qualifying for the final of the 10m Air Rifle event two days ago, will try to best the 2nd and 7th placement they respectively nailed.
The Indian team will enlist Sanjeev Rajput, Silver medalist at last year’s World Cup stage in Baku (AZE), and Chain Singh and Satyendra Singh, both seeking for their first medal in this event.