ISSF World Cup, Lima 2025: Indian shooters look to continue good run in second leg

The second leg of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun stage, is all set to begin at the Las Palmas range in Lima, Peru, from Tuesday.

India finished second to China in the first leg which concluded last week in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The squad had won four golds and a total of eight medals.

A 35-member Indian contingent will compete across 15 events in the three disciplines of Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun over the next week.

With the first day of the event featuring both the men’s and women’s 10m air pistol finals, India will hope Suruchi Singh can repeat her gold medal-winning performance in the women’s air pistol. Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker will also compete alongside the 18-year-old shooting prodigy.

Saurabh Chaudhary, Varun Tomar and Ravinder will take a shot at gold in the men’s air pistol. The first qualifying rounds (50 targets) of the men’s and women’s skeet competitions also get underway on Tuesday.

The country’s hopes will be pinned on Anant Jeet Singh Naruka, Bhavtegh Gill and Gurjoat Khangura in the men’s event while Raiza Dhillon, Ganemant Sekhon and Darshna Rathore carry Indian hopes in the women’s skeet.

All winners from the Argentina World Cup will be competing in Lima. Additionally, Czechia have also entered a strong squad including the likes of Jiri Privratsky, who was not present in the first leg in Argentina.

Strong shooting nations like China, USA, Italy, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, Chinese Taipei and Australia will continue to have a strong presence in Lima.

The hosts have entered a 37-member squad and other Latin American nations like Brazil, Guatemala and Chile will also be looking to take full advantage of familiarity with regional conditions.