Ace pistol shooter Manu Bhaker will lead a 35-member Indian team in the season-opening ISSF World Cups in April in South America with almost all the shooters who featured in the Paris Olympics cutting.

A notable member of the team is air pistol ace Saurabh Chaudhary, who returns to the national side after more than three years. Saurabh, who battled a shoulder injury and poor form following the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, recently shot a national record score in 10m air pistol qualification besides impressing in the trials.

He had paired with Manu in the 10m air pistol mixed team event in Tokyo.

The international shooting season will begin with a double-leg South American sojourn, with the first World Cup (Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun) scheduled in Buenos Aires, Argentina from April 1-11, which will be followed by a second combined World Cup in Lima, Peru from April 13-22.

Manu Bhaker to lead 35-member shooting team to World Cups

The biggest draw on the ISSF calendar this year will be the World Championships scheduled in October (shotgun) and November (rifle/pistol).

NRAI recently announced a long list of coaches and experts to guide the Indian shooters on their journey to the 2028 LA Games with Manu’s coach Jaspal Rana heading the chart.

The team: (Individual events)

Air rifle: Men: Rudrankksh Patil, Arjun Babuta, Hriday Hazarika.

Women: Arya Rajesh Borse, R Narmada Nithin, Sonam Uttam Maskar.

50m rifle 3-positions: Men: Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Chain Singh, Niraj Kumar.

Women: Ashi Chouksey, Shriyanka Sadangi, Sift Kaur Samra.

Air pistol: Men: Saurabh Chaudhary, Ravinder Singh, Varun Tomar.

Women: Suruchi, Manu Bhaker, Sainyam.

25m rapid-fire pistol: Men: Anish Bhanwala, Vijayveer Sidhu, Gurpreet Singh.

25m sports pistol: Women: Manu Bhaker, Simranpreet Kaur Brar, Esha Singh.

Trap: Men: Lakshay, Prithviraj Tondaiman, Zoravar Singh Sandhu.

Women: Neeru, Pragati Dubey, Bhavya Tripathi.

Skeet: Men: Bhavtegh Singh Gill, Anantjeet Naruka, Gurjoat Singh.

Women: Raiza Dhillon, Ganemat Sekhon, Darshna Rathore.

Mixed team events: Air rifle mixed team: Rudrankksh Patil, Arya Rajesh Borse; Arjun Babuta, R Narmada Nithin.

Air pistol mixed team: Saurabh Chaudhary, Suruchi; Ravinder Singh, Manu Bhaker.

Trap mixed team: Lakshay, Neeru; Prithviraj Tondaiman, Pragati Dubey.