Kiren Rijiju: We have high expectations from shooters at Olympics

India is sitting at the top of the medals tally in the ongoing shooting world cup.

The Indian shooters have been on song at the ISSF Shooting World Cup as they have managed to put their country on top of the medals tally. The Indians have secured nine Gold medals in the tournament till Day 5 and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju is also hopeful that they will put up a good performance at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics as well.

India have won a total of 19 medals in the tournament so far including 9 gold, 5 silver and 5 bronze.

Kiren Rijiju complimented the shooters for the performances at this world cup, which is one of the first major global competitions to be held after the coronavirus lockdown, saying, “The overall performance in this world cup has been phenomenal for India. We had great expectations from our shooters because we have extended all possible help throughout this pandemic period. Even during the pandemic, we ensured that the facilities and equipment are constantly provided to the shooters and all the sportspersons in India.”

The Sports Minister also spoke on the growth of shooting and how India has been performing consistently in a multitude of events in the last few years.

Kiren Rijiju remarked, “It’s been a long journey for the Indian shooting team, just a few years ago, we were in contention for just a few of the events, suddenly India has become a dominant force. So it’s been an incredible journey. The kind of facilities that are coming up across the country, the kind of enthusiasm and interest that is being seen in the country among the players and the government’s efforts to supplement with all possible support, this is a combination of everything.”

He has high expectations from Shooting at the Olympics and believes there are many medal contenders in the team.

“I have great expectation from the shooting team, we are going to be sending the largest contingent to the Olympics. A few days ago we had people from athletics qualify and in the coming events, we will have more people qualify, so we have already surpassed the previous record of competitors sent for the Olympics. In Shooting, we will have the maximum number of athletes in medal contention and a very big team,”  Kiren Rijiju concluded.

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