Indian shooters hit bullseye in first ever International online shooting tournament!

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An International Online shooting competition took place this Wednesday. An innovative concept, it was the first major competition of its kind. Amanpreet Singh, Manu Bhaker and Meghana Sajjanar were among the Indian shooters who shone in the tournament.

The event was held through the Zoom app. The competitors logged in through Zoom app from their respective locations and shot using their Electronic Shooting Targets (EST). As prominent shooters from all over the world turned their homes into shooting ranges, the show, live streamed through the internet, became even more enjoyable through commentary provided by renowned Hungarian shooter Peter Sidi.

The competition is the brainchild of former India shooter Shimon Sharif, who thought it would be a good idea to present a feel of competition to the shooters around the world in the time of worldwide home quarantine. 50 shooters from 7 different nations took part in the event.

In the 10m air rifle event, Austria’s Martin Strempfl finished first with a score of 632.5. India’s Meghana Sajjanar was second with 630.5 while French national Etienne Germone was placed third with 629.4. World number one Indian Divyansh Singh Panwar finished unsatisfactorily at fourth place with a score of 627.8.

In the 10m air pistol competition, experienced Indian Amanpreet Singh’s score of 576 was enough for him finish at the top with Ashish Dabbas coming at second place with a score of 575. Indian Manu Bhaker came in third with a score of 572. Bhaker has already qualified for the now-postponed Tokyo Olympics alongside Divyansh Singh Panwar.

The shooters will have to wait for the feel of a real competitive event, as the Tokyo Olympics has been shifted to 2021, partly because of the incompletion of most qualifiers for the grand event. The qualifiers won’t be held until and unless the worldwide pandemic is stopped successfully, which doesn’t seem to be happening in this month or the next. All they can do is wait, and such tournaments will surely help them in the process.

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