ISSF World Cup Final review: More contenders, bigger challenges as Indian shooters head into 2028 Olympic cycle

When Anantjeet Singh Naruka’s Olympic journey ended in Châteauroux, he headed to Paris to try to distract himself from what had just happened. Partnering with Maheshwari Chauhan, he had fallen agonisingly short, missing the podium in the skeet mixed team event by just one point.

Far from finding any relief, Naruka found his mood only soured in the French capital. “I had these big tears in my eyes. I had come so close to a medal, but ultimately I had to go back with nothing. I’d constantly be thinking about which shots I could have made,” he reflects.

While other Indian shooters who competed at the Olympics took a break upon returning home, Naruka couldn’t stay away from his home range in Jaipur, as thoughts of the Olympics followed him to the ISSF World Cup Final in New Delhi. Despite winning a bronze in the men’s individual skeet, defeating former Olympic medallists Jesper Hansen and Lee Meng Yuan, Naruka says memories of Châteauroux keep haunting him. “I’ll be preparing to take a shot, and suddenly it will cross my mind that the moment is almost the same as one of the moments in the bronze medal match in Châteauroux where I missed a shot I should have made. It’s not going to change until the Los Angeles Olympics, where I will actually have a chance to make things right,” he says.

Indeed, just months after Paris 2024, Naruka is already setting his sights on the 2028 Games. He’s not the only shooter with this mindset. Although their motivations may differ from Naruka’s — driven by a sense of redemption — Deepali Deshpande, former chief coach of the Indian team, asserts that the goal for every shooter remains the Los Angeles Games.

“Realistically, we are in the 2028 Olympic cycle. For some shooters, this has already begun with the 2024 ISSF World Cup Final. For others, the cycle will start with the National Championships in November and December. Even for some shooters who aren’t competing in either — double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker plans to return to action next year — the focus will be on Los Angeles. They are taking their time to complete their rehabilitation, which they probably won’t have the chance to do closer to the Olympics.”

There is much to be optimistic about. After years of underperformance at the Olympics, Indian shooting delivered its best performance, winning three medals at the 2024 Games. The bench strength in shooting has also been steadily growing, with participation in National Championships increasing significantly. Last year’s shooting Nationals saw a surge, with 4,343 shooters taking part in the Olympic pistol and rifle events, compared to 2,622 at the 2019 edition. This trend is expected to continue at the Nationals in New Delhi/Bhopal.

However, challenges remain. “If not properly planned, these numbers won’t mean much.  Mela lagane me aur ladai karne me farak hai (there’s a difference between just getting numbers and preparing for a battle),” says Jaspal Rana, Manu’s coach.

According to Rana, there needs to be a systematic timeline set for athletes. “You can’t prepare for an exam if you don’t know when it’s supposed to be held. I would like to see the schedule for the selection trials announced well in advance and not changed once it’s decided,” he states.

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), for its part, asserts that it will provide a detailed selection policy and schedule, along with a review of the previous Olympic cycle. “We may have had our best Olympic cycle, but we are conducting a systematic review of how we prepared for the Paris Games. There are areas for improvement, and we will be making a report on that,” says Kalikesh Deo, president of the NRAI. However, he notes that drafting a selection policy will be more challenging since the ISSF (International Shooting Sport Federation) has announced that it will likely change the format of multiple events. ISSF president Luciano Rossi informed Sportstar that this process would be completed ahead of the 2026 World Championships — the first selection competition for the 2028 Olympics. “It would make sense to draft a selection process for the Olympics only once we know what the competition format looks like,” Deo explains.

Rana hopes that greater freedom will be accorded to individual shooters to determine their own training systems. “During the current Olympic cycle, several decisions were made that didn’t align with Manu’s training cycle. After the selection trials for the Olympics, the team was entered to compete at the Shooting World Cup in Munich, which wasn’t part of her training plan at all. She eventually went but didn’t compete. I believe going forward, shooters need to be trusted more to know what works for them. Shooting can’t be treated like hockey, where the team needs to train and compete together. Ultimately, the only one responsible for a shooter’s success or failure is the shooter themselves,” he says.

Rana insists his ideas are equally valid for any shooter bidding for a place in the Indian team for the Los Angeles Olympics.

Indeed, coaches feel that with nearly four years until the 2028 Games, there’s no guarantee that the same shooters who competed in Châteauroux will be present in Los Angeles.

“I think this makes this cycle a bit more challenging. The Olympic cycle for the Paris Games was much shorter than what we have now. There were just three years between the Tokyo Games and Paris. When we really look at it, even 2022 was a COVID-impacted year,” says Deshpande. “This meant that last time, we mostly saw the same shooters who were part of the core group in Tokyo competing for the 2024 Olympics. I think, with the exception of Sift Kaur Samra (in the women’s 50m three-position event), nearly everyone in the 2024 squad was on the edge of selection in 2021. The Olympic cycle really started in March 2022 for most shooters because only the core group trained continuously through the COVID years. We lost a batch of shooters due to that. Many were just starting to peak in 2023 and 2024, but because of the selection policy, their scores came too late for inclusion in the Olympic selection trials. If the Olympics had been postponed by just six months, I’m sure we would have seen a very different set of shooters at the selection trials,” she adds. “While that setback was significant, we didn’t have to think too much about planning for 2024. There was almost no time for distraction because we had major competitions back-to-back. This time around, it’s very likely we will see a very different group of shooters in the squad for Los Angeles,” she notes.

However, this situation comes with its own set of problems. “I think because we’re going to have so many shooters pushing each other at the very top, it won’t be easy for any shooter to get the exposure they need to gauge the level of international competition and develop some consistency there. That’s something we will need to figure out,” she says.

Rana concurs that it may indeed be more difficult for India’s Olympic medallists to ensure their names feature in the squad for the 2028 Games. “Winning an Olympic medal is hard, but it’s even harder to win two. No one has done it in shooting, and only a few Indians have medalled twice in an individual sport. Suddenly, there are many more demands placed on you. What matters is whether you have the hunger to stay focused,” he states.

For now, Deshpande, who coaches Swapnil Kusale, and Rana feel their shooters’ hunger has not diminished. “At least in Manu’s case, she genuinely enjoys shooting. She has no option but to participate in many events because that’s what you have to do as an Olympic medallist, but she’s started to return to training. That hunger hasn’t gone anywhere,” he asserts. The same is true for Kusale.

“He started training a few days ago. He’s happy he has the medal, but he knows he didn’t shoot nearly as well as he should have in the final. He keeps revisiting some of the bad shots he made. That shows he’s not satisfied with his performance,” Deshpande notes.

While the medal winners may be motivated by the possibility of doing better, those who missed out — both in making the team and during the Games themselves — find ample inspiration as well.

Naruka, however, adds that while he is driven by the desire to perform at the Olympics, he cannot focus solely on the end point of the Olympic cycle. “I think one of the mistakes I made during this Olympic cycle was concentrating only on that. I think I got a little burnt out just before the Olympics after the selection trials. I believe it’s important to pace myself a little more,” he reflects.

Vivaan Kapoor, who won a silver in the men’s trap event at the ISSF World Cup Final in New Delhi, agrees. “I think it’s important to set smaller goals leading up to the Olympics. Rather than solely focusing on the Olympics, it’s crucial to check off smaller milestones, like the Asian Games,” says Kapoor, whose Olympic ambitions were cut short after a freak knee injury last year.

This approach may be particularly beneficial for younger shooters. Deshpande gives the example of Arjun Babuta, who suffered a heartbreaking fourth-place finish in the men’s 10m air rifle competition in Châteauroux. “Arjun is still very young. The Olympics were the most important competition of his career thus far. He hadn’t previously competed at the Asian Games or World Championships. I believe he would have been much more composed at the Olympics had he had the opportunity to shoot at another major competition beforehand.

“This will be critical for some of these younger shooters, and it’s essential they remain motivated. Four years may seem like a long time, but you won’t even realise when it’s over,” she concludes.