Asian Games: Shooters To Watch Out For

Chandela announced her arrival on the big stage with a bang: winning the air rifle gold in Scotland. Yet, the Jaipur native has been considered a medal hope ever since she won the Senior National title in 2012. She was part of the team that won the silver at the Asian Championships in Tehran last year and added four more medals from the Intershoot Championships in The Hague this year. The Ongnyeon International range will provide the 21-year-old the first big stage to confirm her potential.

Bindra doesn't have an individual Asian Games gold to his credit yet. But then, he didn't have one from the Commonwealth Games until he rectified that anomaly in Glasgow. The 2008 Olympic Champion will once again be the Indian team's spearhead and he will look to add to the team silver medal he won in Guangzhou.He missed out on the finals at the World Championships but that only proved how close the contests have become since the introduction of decimal scoring. For instance, his score in Spain was 624.8 where as he shot just 596 to qualify in Beijing.

Sidhu has been redefining pistol shooting for Indian women. That it wasconsidered a disappointment when she was eliminated in the finals of the Commonwealth Games this year only proves how far she has come. Since creating a world record for air pistol finals with an incredible 203.8 last season, the 25-year-old from Punjab has twice shot 386 -at the Asian championships to win the gold and in Fort Benning, USA, for silver. In Maribor, she shot an inexplicable 376.

Not long ago, Goel was idolizing Heena Sidhu. Last month at the CWG, the daughter of a police officer from Amritsar, went one step ahead of the 2013 World Cup Finals winner by bagging silver in women's air pistol. Sidhu was eliminated in the finals. The Asian Games provides an opportunity for Goel, who will turn 17 only three weeks after the continental extravaganza, to prove that Glasgow was no fluke. But her age itself (Sidhu too is just 25) augurs well for Indian shooting.

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