Zoravar Sandhu left out due to ‘workload management’: Trap coach Peter Wilson
India’s trap coach Peter Wilson on Wednesday said that the country’s top trap marksman Zoravar Singh Sandhu has been left out from the season-opening ISSF Shotgun World Cup due to “workload management”.
The 12-member Indian contingent is all set for the World Cup in Tangier, but does not include Zoravar, who became only the third Indian trap shooter to win a medal the World Championships.
En route to Tangier, Wilson, the London Olympic gold medallist, told PTI that the 46-year-old stalwart Zoravar will return to the side “hundred percent”, with next year being crucial for Indian shooting as qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics begins.
Zoravar is currently ranked fourth in the world and given his global ranking he should have been India’s best bet but Wilson said, “So, whether Zoravar was first, second, third, or last in the world, it would still mean that we would manage his workload and he wouldn’t be expected to shoot every competition.
“We’ve got good depth, and my intention is that they all get the chance to compete on the world stage. But with regard to Zoravar, as I said, the best would be to contact the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI),” said Wilson before boarding his flight for Morocco.
Wilson indicated that the shooting team’s workload management is overseen by Pierre Beauchamp, the High Performance Director (HPD) of the NRAI, and that he would be the best person to comment on the matter.
“The best thing is to contact the NRAI themselves or Pierre Beauchamp, and then hear it from the horse’s mouth. But I can’t elaborate more than that at the moment (on Zoravar),” said Wilson.
“I mean, there’s also, there’s sort of a lot going on as well in the background. I mean, things can change, of course, but we’re in good shape.”
Interestingly, Zoravar’s name is also missing from next month’s ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Wilson said his plan for the year is to avoid overloading athletes with a packed competition schedule.
“My plan for this year is to try and not make it too strenuous for all the athletes in the past. Everyone has basically followed a top-three rolling average. And as a result, they have shot nearly every international competition.
“I think in the past, I could accuse us, the Indian Olympic shooting team, of shooting too much and by the end of the year, burning out. So my hope is this year, we won’t have that same problem. We’ll manage the athletes’ workload,” he said.
In the absence of Zoravar, the trap team will rely on Olympians Prithviraj Tondaiman, Kynan Chenai and Bhowneesh Mendiratta, who will be keen to start the season on a high.
The competition in Tangier will begin with the men’s and women’s skeet events on Thursday, with the trap competitions scheduled later.
Published on Mar 25, 2026