ISSF World Cup Munich: Samrat Rana, Arjun Babuta in focus on opening day
The ISSF World Cup Munich will see two finals on the opening day on Tuesday, in the men’s 10m air pistol and 10m air rifle events. Traditionally billed as a blue-riband annual event in the sport, the Olympiaschießanlage will see the participation of 696 athletes from 80 countries, including a galaxy of Olympic and World Champions.
The 22-member Indian squad has a healthy mix of experience and youth. The squad includes four members making their senior Suraj Sharma, Sakshi Padekar, Ajendra Singh Chauhan and Udhayveer Sidhu.
10m air pistol event
World Champion Samrat Rana will lead the Indian challenge in the 10m air pistol event along with Sharvan Kumar and debutant Ajendra Singh Chauhan. The trio will be up against some of the best pistol shooters in the world, starting with China’s Hu Kai who clinched the gold medal in all four World Cups last year and a silver behind Samrat in the World Championships.
The other challengers in the event include 19-year-old Bu Shuaihang of China, who won gold in Granada last month, German pistol legend Christian Reitz, Paris Olympics medallists Federico Nilo Maldini and Paolo Monna of Italy, Paris Olympic medallist Yusuf Dikec of Turkey and 2016 Olympics silver medallist Felipe Almeida Wu of Brazil among others. A total of 153 athletes will be taking part in the event.
Samrat has been in decent form this season, winning bronze in Asian Championships in New Delhi, the only major competition he has taken part in this season. Sharvan, who will be part of a World Cup after a gap of three years, will look to better his fourth-placed finish in the Asian Championships while Ajendra will aim for a good showing in his debut World Cup.
16-year-old Jonathan Gavin Antony and Harsh Swami will be competing for ranking points
10m air rifle event
The Indian challenge will be spearheaded by Olympian Arjun Babuta, who started the season with a gold at the Asian Championships. He will be joined by former junior World champion Parth Rakesh Mane and Shahu Tushar Mane. Rudrankksh Patil and Himanshu Dhillon will be competing for ranking points.
They will be taking a field consisting of some of the biggest names of rifle shooting, led by perennial winner Sheng Lihao of China and World champion Maximilian Dallinger of Germany. Other big names who will be taking the field include Ma Sihan of China, Istavan Peni Marton of Hungary, finals World Record holder Danilo Dennis Sollazzo of Italy, Jiri Privratsky of Czechia, Islam Satpayev of Kazakhstan, Jon-Hermann Hegg of Norway, Victor Lindgren of Sweden and veterans Petar Gorsa of Croatia and Serhii Kulish of Ukraine.
Published on May 25, 2026