Weighed down by India returning medalless from two successive Olympics, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) picked the Indian shooting team (rifle/pistol) for the Paris Games on "current form", based on results of the elaborate domestic selection trials.

For the first time ever, NRAI held a set of four Olympic selection trials (OST) last month with five shooters competing in each of the eight rifle and pistol disciplines. The trials did throw up some unexpected results. Three shooters who won quota at the World Championships failed to make the cut. The biggest name among them was 2022 world champion Rudrankksh Patil, who was also the first shooter to seal a Paris berth for India in 10m air rifle.

The 20-year-old shooter wrote to NRAI to consider him on account of his "consistent performance" at international level. The NRAI selection committee, however, has backed surprise trials topper Sandeep Singh – the relatively inexperienced Army shooter -- who stunned the field in air rifle.

With bonus points for quota winners almost negligible, the field was wide open and as many as nine out of the 16 quotas in rifle and pistol events have exchanged hands. Besides Rudrankksh, world championships medallists Mehuli Ghosh and Akshil Sheoran also did not make it to the team of 15 rifle and pistol shooters. The shotgun team for Paris will be announced after the ongoing World Cup in Italy.

"We deliberated at length. Everything is described in the selection policy and no selection policy is ever perfect. You will always say this is lacking and that is lacking but given the level of competition in pistol and rifle, the thinking (of selection committee) was that we got to pick the best shooter in their best form and we had the recent trials to see that," said NRAI senior vice-president Kalikesh Singh Deo, who chaired the selection committee meeting.

The scores in ISSF Munich World Cup, which took place after the domestic trials, helped the panel firm up its mind. Sandeep finished 10th with a score of 631.4 while Rudrankksh ended 18th (630.7).

"The trials results were substantiated by the performances in Munich where by and large the team did reasonably well. So all the coaches -- foreign and Indian -- and the entire selection committee felt that we should go with the selection policy."

There was concern whether Sandeep's inclusion will impact India in fielding a second team for the mixed team rifle event. Sandeep's lies low (45th) in the Qualification Rankings for Olympic Games (QROG) of ISSF (world body) that is expected to come into play for a second pairing. Rudrankksh is high up at third place. NRAI had also sought clarification from ISSF on mixed teams.

"Mixed team events depend on no starting points. From what we understand there are 29 firing points and both our teams are ranked well in the top half of the quotas. It (two teams) should not be a problem. Sandeep will also get some additional points for Munich," said Singh Deo.

Sandeep will team up with Elavenil Valarivan, ranked 14th in QROG, while Arjun Babuta will pair with Asian Games medallist Ramita Jindal in mixed team air rifle events.

Manu to shoot in 3 events

Manu Bhaker was the star of the trials and has shown impressive form in the lead up to the Paris Olympics. She will feature in both air pistol and 25m pistol events, besides competing in mixed team events alongside Sarabjot Singh. Besides Manu, Anjum Moudgil, Elavenil Valarivan and Aishwary Pratap Tomar (rifle 3P) have made it to Paris from the Tokyo Olympics team. With experience in their ranks, they will have the responsibility to shoulder India's campaign in Paris.

Asian Games gold medallist Sift Kaur Samra and pistol shooter Esha Singh, who won four medals in Hangzhou, will also go to Paris high on form and confidence. As Manu won the trials in two events, one quota place in pistol was freed up. NRAI has the option of getting a quota in women's trap in exchange for that. However, because of the limited number of firing points in the Paris range, NRAI has to first get the go ahead from ISSF for redistributing the quota.

"Our effort is to try and give that quota to women's trap as we can exchange the quota in same gender events. Only one female trap quota can be filled. However, it will depend on ISSF and the IOC," said Singh Deo. "There are limited starting points and the surplus of quotas (to be re-allocated) will depend on that. We have written to ISSF saying we would like to exchange the quota to women's trap."

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