Manu Bhaker, Apurvi Chandela Among Olympians Not Picked In Indian Team For Cairo World Cup

The Indian shooting team for the upcoming ISSF World Cup in Cairo was picked after taking into consideration the qualification score along with final ranking points of the 64th National Championship as the selection trials could not be held owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The likes of Olympians Manu Bhaker, Apurvi Chandela, Anjum Moudgil, Abhishek Verma, Deepak Kumar and Yashaswini Deshwal could not find a place in the squad as they did not meet the selection criteria.

The World Cup in Cairo is scheduled to be held from February 26 to March 8.

The team will be accompanied by six coaches -- Deepali Deshpande, Samaresh Jung, Manoj Kumar, DS Chandel, Ronak Pandit and Ved Prakash -- and two physios.

"Due to COVID-19 conditions in India, the selection trials, which were scheduled to be held in January 2022, were postponed. There was no time left for conducting the trials before selection of teams for ISSF World Cup, Cairo," the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) said in a statement.

"The selection committee of the NRAI has decided to consider the Qualification score along with final ranking points of 64th National Shooting Championship Competition, to arrive at the final ranking for selection of teams for ISSF World Cup, Cairo, Egypt from 26th February to 8th March 2022." The top three shooters in each event with 'Minimum Travel Scores' (MTS) have been selected for individual and team events. The shooters occupying the fourth rank with same average score have also been selected.

The women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions (3PW) is the only event in which India will have two shooters instead of the minimum three allowed, as the third-ranked shooter --Apurvi Chandela -- could not satisfy the MTS requirements.

The team will