Almaty, May 2 (IANS) India will be represented by Olympians Anantjeet Singh Naruka, Raiza Dhillon, and Mairaj Ahmad Khan at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup 2026 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, which gets underway on Sunday. The Indian contingent heads into the competition looking to bounce back after a medal-less outing in the opening leg held in Tangier, Morocco.

The Almaty leg marks the second of four Shotgun World Cups scheduled this year and features 284 shooters from 42 National Olympic Committees.

A 20-member squad has been named for Almaty, including eight shooters who will compete for Ranking Points Only (RPO). The lineup sees a few changes from the team that travelled to Morocco.

Asian champion Naruka returns to action after skipping the previous leg and will lead India’s challenge in men’s skeet alongside seasoned Olympian Mairaj. In the women’s skeet event, Raiza will spearhead the campaign.

In the men’s trap, the team has changed, with Bhowneesh Mendiratta, Prithviraj Tondaiman, and Kynan Chenai not part of the squad this time. Vivaan Kapoor will take charge of India’s hopes in the discipline.

The stakes remain high, as gold medallists in each event will secure qualification for the ISSF World Cup Final, set to be held in Rome, Italy, in December.

When and Where to watch ISSF Shotgun World Cup: While the live stream of the finals will be available on Olympics.com, the event will not be telecast on any TV channel in India.

India squad for ISSF Shotgun World Cup 2026:

Men’s skeet- Anantjeet Singh Naruka, Gurjoat Singh, Mairaj Ahmad Khan, Bhavtegh Singh Gill (RPO), Abhay Singh Sekhon (RPO)

Men’s trap- Ahvar Rizvi, Vivaan Kapoor, Shapath Bharadwaj, Ali Aman Elahi (RPO), Udaivir Singh Jaijee (RPO)

Women’s trap- Pragati Dubey, Neeru, Manisha Keer, Vidhi Singh (RPO), Varsha Varman (RPO)

Women’s skeet- Parinaaz Dhaliwal, Ganemat Sekhon, Raiza Dhillon, Rashmmi Rathore (RPO), Vanshika Tiwari (RPO)

Mixed team trap- Ahvar Rizvi, Pragati Dubey, Vivaan Kapoor, Neeru

ISSF Shotgun World Cup 2026 schedule (Finals only; All times in IST):

May 5, Tuesday:

Women’s skeet – 4:00 PM

Men’s skeet – 7:30 PM

May 9, Saturday:

Women’s trap – 4:00 PM

Men’s trap – 5:30 PM

May 10, Sunday:

Trap mixed team – 4:30 PM

–IANS

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