NRAI announces dates for shooting Paris Olympic selection trial

The National Rifle Association of India has announced the dates for the Paris Olympic selection trials. The trials will be held in two sets, the first taking place in the Karni Singh Ranges at New Delhi from May 3 while the second set will be hosted twenty days later in Bhopal from May 23.

The selection trials will include four rounds of two sets, with the three best scores for each player being used to reach the Final Average Score (FAS), which will in turn choose India's shooting squad for the Paris Olympics.

Additionally, the players who have earned themselves an Olympic quota or are deemed an Olympic quota holder from international competitions will have bonus points added to their total.

Shooters in the 50m rifle and 25m pistol will have two bonus points added to their FAS while those in the 10m air rifle and air pistol, will have one point added to their FAS.

Indian shooters who have claimed Olympic quotas

Olympic quotas in shooting are awarded when an athlete finishes near the top in certain important competitions, like the Asian Shooting Championships.

So far a handful of Indian shooters have claimed their quotas across multiple different events. Each country is allowed only two berths in a certain category, and the NRAI labels anybody else who qualifies as a "deemed quota holder".

Shooters Bhowneesh Mendiratta and Rajeshwari Kumari have earned a quota in the men's and women's Trap events. Meanwhile, Rudrankksh Patil, Arjun Babuta, Mehuli Ghosh, and Tilottama Sen have booked a spot in the Men's and Women's 10m Air Rifle events.

Swapnil Kusale, Akhil Sheoran, Shriyanka Sadangi, and Sift Kaur Samra have berths in the Men's and Women's 50m rifle 3 positions.

Lastly, Sarabjot Singh, Manu Bhaker, and Anish Bhanwala have qualified in the men's 10m air pistol, women's 25m pistol, and men's 25m rapid fire pistol respectively.