Latest news with #NRAI
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
Strong team for Lonato World Cup
Lakshay Sheoran and Neeru Dhanda will spearhead the Indian trap team in the shotgun World Cup to be staged in Lonato, Italy from July 4 to 14. The skeet squad has Olympians Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Raiza Dhillon as the leading shooters in the team announced by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) on Friday (May 30, 2025). The team Trap: Lakshay Sheoran, Zoravar Singh Sandhu, Jaswinder Singh; Neeru Dhanda, Pragati Dubey, Preeti Rajak. Skeet: Anantjeet Singh Naruka, Mairaj Ahmad Khan, Bhavtegh Singh Gill; Raiza Dhillon, Ganemat Sekhon, Maheshwari Chauhan.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
Olympians Raiza, Anantjeet return as 12-member shotgun team for Lonato World Cup announced
Paris Olympians and Skeet shooters Raiza Dhillon and Anantjeet Singh Naruka are back in the Indian team as the selection committee of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) proposed a 12-member shotgun squad for the year's final International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup scheduled between July 4-14 in Lonato Del Garda, Italy. Among those who competed in the third Nicosia shotgun World Cup earlier this month, where India returned with its first ever ISSF medal (bronze) in the newest Olympic Trap mixed team event, only the seasoned Mairaj Ahmad Khan in men's Skeet and Maheshwari Chauhan in women's Skeet have retained their spots. Making yet another comeback will be the indomitable veteran Zoravar Singh Sandhu in men's Trap, as will 2018 Jakarta Asiad silver medallist Lakshay Sheoran, alongside him. READ: Inspired by Abhinav Bindra, Shambhavi beats double Olympic medallist at Junior Worlds and wants to follow in her footsteps Ganemat Sekhon, India's most accomplished international woman Skeet Shooter with five senior ISSF medals, including two gold, will also be seen in action after missing out in Nicosia. The Trap mixed team responsibilities will rest on the shoulders of Neeru Dhanda and Lakshay Sheoran and Preeti Rajak and Zoravar respectively. The other members of the team are Pragati Dubey (women's Trap), Jaswinder Singh (men's Trap) and Bhavtegh Singh Gill (men's Skeet). The ISSF circuit has so far seen two Rifle/Pistol World Cup stages, three Shotgun World Cups and one combined Junior World Cup where Indian shooters have bagged a total of 27 medals including nine gold. They also topped the Junior World Cup standings and finished second and third in the first two senior combined world cups respectively. TEAM INDIA SQUAD Skeet Men: Anantjeet Singh Naruka, Mairaj Ahmed Khan, Bhavtegh Singh Gill Skeet Women: Raiza Dhillon, Ganemat Sekhon, Maheshwari Chauhan Trap Men: Lakshay Sheoran, Zoravar Singh Sandhu, Jaswinder Singh Trap Women: Neeru Dhanda, Pragati Dubey, Preeti Rajak
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Business Standard
4 days ago
- Sport
- Business Standard
Swapnil Kusale backs Indian league to expand shooting worldwide
Paris Olympics bronze medallist Swapnil Kusale reckons the upcoming Shooting League of India (SLI) will provide additional exposure to the sport not just in the country but all around the world. The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) announced the window for the inaugural edition of the SLI earlier this month. The tournament will be held from November 20 to December 2, and is expected to feature some of the biggest shooters from India and around the world. Swapnil believes the tournament will help in further popularising the sport in India, especially after the contingent's success at 2024 Summer Games. "After winning medals in Paris, the interest and knowledge is increasing in shooting as a sport," Swapnil, who is set to travel to Munich next moth for the ISSF World Cup, said on Thursday. "The public in India have started understanding that there are different disciplines in shooting across pistol, rifle and shotgun. But still, the sport needs more exposure all over the world.. "We want school kids and grassroots level athletes to aspire to pick up the sport. Hence, we have to ensure that we perform well in this league so that the sport is seen in a different light," added, Swapnil who competes in the 50m Rifle 3 positions discipline. In a historic achievement, Swapnil became the first Indian shooter to secure a medal in the 50m rifle 3 position (3P) event at the Olympics last summer.. The inaugural SLI will feature mixed team events in pistol (10M, 25M), rifle (10M, 50M 3P), and shotgun (trap and skeet), as decided by the NRAI technical committee. Eight teams will be competing in the tournament, with four teams divided into two pools in the league stage. The selected players will be grouped into four tiers - elite champions, world elite, national champions, junior and youth championships - to strike a balance between experienced players and emerging talents. Swapnil also explained how an athlete's mindset is switched differently in a league-styled environment as compared to when they are competing in national or international events. "All the athletes are extremely excited because we have been competing in international and national tournaments for many years. But in a league, we have to carry a different mindset and we also gain a lot of exposure. "The competition level also increases with top talent participating," the 29-year-old said. "In competitions, while we are representing the national flag, we are participating in an individual capacity. In a league environment, we will be competing for a franchise and it will be a new challenge to play as per the team's direction and environment. "Having unity among the players in a team will also be a crucial aspect and also helps in further elevating our performances," Swapnil added.
Indian Express
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
Adriyan Karmakar, with father's 2012 London Olympics rifle, wins bronze at Jr World Cup
London Olympics 50m Rifle Prone fourth-place finisher and World Cup medallist Joydeep Karmakar remembers the time when he took his then five-old son Adriyan Karmarkar to the National Championships in Kerala in 2010. It was the first time Karmarkar Jr would see his father shoot in a competition. On Friday, Adriyan Karmakar, with his father's London Olympics rifle in hand, won his second medal in the ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany. Karmakar Sr was reminded of that day in Kerala upon seeing his son win the 50m Three Position bronze medal in Germany. 'Adriyan was five or something when he accompanied us to the shooting nationals in Kerala. Before the final, when he heard my name, he started crying and remained adamant that he had to shoot with the rifle. Maybe that was an instinct he was born with. The organisers were nice enough to get the final ceremonially started with him just aiming the shot with the empty rifle and that's how the final started,' shared Karmarkar Sr while speaking with The Indian Express from Kolkata. Earlier this week, Karmarkar Jr had won the silver in the men's 50m Prone event, an event in which his father bagged the fourth place in London, and has been discontinued in the Olympics since 2017. The 20-year-old made a new junior national record of 626.7 to finish behind Sweden's Jesper Johansson earlier this week. The string of good results have come after struggles that Adriyan had been facing over the past few months. 'He had changed his jacket and trousers apart from shoes and the prone sling and it was taking some time to adjust to those. So these medals will inspire him a lot,' adds Karmarkar Sr. Back in 2015, three years after he started shooting, Karmarkar Jr had become the youngest competitor to compete in nationals with a special permission granted by NRAI to compete. Eight years later, the youngster would win his first Khelo India Youth Games title in the 50m Rifle 3P event and would follow with defending his title in 2024. In 2023, Karmaklar Jr would finish sixth in the same event in Asian Junior Championships in Changwon, Korea and had a 27th place finish in 2022 Junior World Championships in Cairo. Karmarkar Sr also remembers a phase in his son's career when he was finishing fourth repeatedly. 'I have never talked to him about any emotions for my fourth-place finish in the Olympics. There was a phase in his career when he would finish fourth repeatedly and was getting frustrated saying things like, 'Mere sath hi kyun ho raha (Why is it happening with me alone). I just told him that the fact that you are finishing fourth and making the finals every time and not missing the final speaks of your consistency. 'He has been shooting with the same rifle with which I shot in the London Olympics with some minor barrel repair; his only focus is to shoot his best,' adds Karmarkar Sr. On Friday, Karmakar Jr started the final having shot 588 with a fourth spot in the qualification. In the final, which saw the presence of Paris Olympian and senior World Cup medallist Romain Aufrere of France, Junior World Champion Jens Oestli of Norway, European bronze medallist and Junior World Championship silver medallist Jesper Johansson of Sweden, Junior World Champion medallist Griffin Lake of USA among prominent names, Karmarkar Jr made sure that he was among the top four. The standing elimination series saw the Indian maintaining his composure and edging out Johansson to be among the last three and winning the bronze. 'Adriyan was facing some problems in recent times in prone but then it's not like that he shoots very bad in prone. The silver earlier with the new junior national record would have set things right for him and he showed that in 3P qualification too with his best series score of 197 coming in prone out of the three positions. In the final too, he had a score of 153.4 in prone as compared to the 151.9 in the kneeling position. And it helped him in standing series,' said Karmarkar. Nitin Sharma is an Assistant Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Based out of Chandigarh, Nitin works with the print sports desk while also breaking news stories for the online sports team. A Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award recipient for the year 2017 for his story 'Harmans of Moga', Nitin has also been a two-time recipient of the UNFPA-supported Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity for the years 2022 and 2023 respectively. Nitin mainly covers Olympics sports disciplines with his main interests in shooting, boxing, wrestling, athletics and much more. The last 17 years with The Indian Express has seen him unearthing stories across India from as far as Andaman and Nicobar to the North East. Nitin also covers cricket apart from women's cricket with a keen interest. Nitin has covered events like the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2011 ODI World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup and the 2017 AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships. An alumnus of School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, from where he completed his Masters in Mass Communications degree, Nitin has been an avid quizzer too. A Guru Nanak Dev University Colour holder, Nitin's interest in quizzing began in the town of Talwara Township, a small town near the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border. When not reporting, Nitin's interests lie in discovering new treks in the mountains or spending time near the river Beas at his hometown. ... Read More
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Business Standard
22-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Zomato adds new charges for long-distance deliveries; restaurants unhappy
Popular food delivery app, Zomato has started charging a new 'long distance service fee' for food orders that are delivered more than 4 km away. According to a report by The Economic Times, the Gurugram-based company will now charge customers ₹15 for deliveries between 4 and 6 km if the order value is more than ₹150. For orders going beyond 6 km, the fee will be between ₹25 and ₹35, depending on the city. This fee applies no matter how much the customer spends. According to the report, Zomato told its restaurant partners that total service fees, including this new distance charge, will not cross 30 per cent, not counting other costs. But some restaurants say that their total commission fees could actually go as high as 45 per cent. 'There are changes to the commission terms every few months and it is frustrating to do business this way without any clarity on commission structures. Several restaurants are in touch with each other to formally raise a complaint with Zomato over this and are contemplating going off the platform for a day in protest,' one restaurateur told T he Economic Times. In addition to the new delivery fee, Zomato has also asked some restaurants to sign new agreements reflecting a name change of its parent company to 'Eternal'. According to the report, Zomato insiders say the new fee is part of a bigger plan. The company recently started showing ratings based on how far food travels. 'This decision has to be seen in conjunction with the distance-based ratings system. Data shows that user experience deteriorates as delivery distance increases,' a Zomato executive told The Economic Times. That ratings system, which started last year, had already received criticism from some restaurant owners. Before Covid-19, free delivery was allowed within a 4–5 km range. After the pandemic, as many restaurants closed, that limit was extended to 15 km. The National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI) has contacted Zomato to share concerns. 'A detailed discussion on the issue will happen later this week,' said an NRAI spokesperson. Zomato's changes come as the food delivery market is slowing down. Both Zomato and rival Swiggy have seen year-on-year growth fall below 20 per cent in the last two quarters. Food delivery remains Zomato's biggest business. It reported ₹9,778 crore in gross order value for the quarter ending in March — up 16 per cent from last year but slightly lower than the previous quarter. Zomato also recently shut down its 10-minute delivery services like Quick and Everyday.
