Panaji: The tiny coastal village of Mandrem in North Goa, is set to witness world-class Shooting action, as the first gold medal in the sport is decided a little after noon on Friday, with the conclusion of the men’s 10m air pistol final.
That will be the only final at the Yash Shooting Academy ranges, on day one of the National Games Goa 2023 Shooting competitions, which will see close to 325 shooters from over 30 States and Union Territories (UTs) compete till November 09, across the 15 Olympic Shooting disciplines.
Haryana’s Sarabjot Singh, just recently back from his bronze medal and Paris Olympics quota-winning exploits at the 15th Asian Shooting Championship in Changwon, Korea, will lead a field of 37 air pistol shooters vying for the first National Games Goa Shooting title.
The field consists of the top 15 ranked shooters in the discipline in the country as well as those recommended by respective state associations, with Goa, the host state also fielding one shooter.
The opening day will also see the start of the Men’s and Women’s Skeet competitions which have a 19 and 17-strong field respectively.
Some top present and former India internationals who will be seen in action on day one includes the likes of Saurabh Chaudhary, Shiva Narwal, Varun Tomar, Anantjeet Singh Naruka, Angad Vir Singh Bajwa, Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Ganemat Sekhon.
The National Games will also see many Olympians, former India internationals and stars continue their comeback process with the Paris Olympics in sight. The likes of Rahi Sarnobat, Anjum Moudgil, Deepak Kumar and Saurabh Chaudhary are all in the fray in their respective events.
–IANS