NRAI felicitates Asian Games 2023 medallists

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) felicitated the medal winners of the Asian Games with mementos at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Tuesday.

The Indian contingent of men, women and juniors are training in the Capital for the Asian Championship to be staged in Changwon, Korea, from October 22.

Commending the shooters on their best ever performance in the Asian Games, accounting for 22 of the 107 medals the country won in Hangzhou, China, the senior vice-president of NRAI, Kalikesh Singh Deo said, “This is a stepping stone, and greater achievements await our talented shooters”.

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The Asian championship will offer 24 Olympic quota places for the Paris Games. India has won seven Olympic quota so far in the World Championships.

India will field a 36-member squad for the Asian championship along with 17 coaches and support staff. The first batch will leave for Korea on Wednesday.

There will be 12 Olympic events, and India can win a maximum of 11 Olympic quota. The team has already won the maximum possible two Olympic quota in men’s rifle 3-position event through Swapnil Kusale and Akhil Sheoran.

With a country being eligible to win only one Olympic quota in an event in each of the ISSF championships, India will aspire to win one each in the 11 Olympic events that it is eligible to win the quota.

India had fielded 15 shooters for the Tokyo Games, and the effort would be to win more quota this time, despite the newly introduced restriction.

Apart from the men and women, India will also field a 38-member junior squad for the Asian championship. It will have 24 coaches and other support staff. The team will leave for Korea in batches, depending on their events.