Shooting | I will try to get an Olympic berth at the upcoming World Cup, says Anish Bhanwala

Shooting | I will try to get an Olympic berth at the upcoming World Cup, says Anish Bhanwala

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Young shooting sensation Anish Bhanwala has stated that he will try to secure an Olympic 2020 spot for himself at the upcoming World Cup. Earlier last year, Bhanwala became the youngest Indian ever to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games at a very young age of only 15 years.

Young Anish Bhanwala scored a record 30 points to bag a gold at the GoldCoast Commonwealth Games last year. Now, he has explained that he is aiming to fetch a Tokyo Olympic spot at the upcoming World Cup. He also added that once he qualifies, he will shift his focus to the Olympics. New Delhi will host the first of the shooting World Cup events when it gets ready to organise the rifle and pistol events in February.

"My target is to do well in the World Cups this year, where quotas for the Olympics will be on offer. The main one is the World Cup in Delhi in February, it's in my home ground. It's a step by step process, I am focusing on qualifications, for the time being, once that is done then I will think about the Olympics," Anish told PTI.

Apart from the gold at the Commonwealth Games, Bhanwala also won a medal at the ISSF Junior World Championships with a score of 579 in the 25m pistol shooting which is a world record. But, he missed at the Asian Games last year finishing at the ninth position and mentioned that it is a part and parcel of the game.

"There is always pressure on us during the games, not just the Asian Games. My training was good and my first half went well but the second half was a little down. I missed the finals by 2-3 points only. I tried my best but I feel my performance wasn't that bad, you can miss out by a slightest of margins on certain days, it is a part and parcel of the sport," he added.

Bhanwala also spoke about the increased competition in shooting and stated that it is a good thing that in shooting both junior and senior categories are open for the junior players.

"The number of participants has increased, youngsters taking part have also increased, it has become very competitive now at the junior as well as the senior level.

"It's good that we get to compete more - in the junior as well as the senior events. Our confidence also increases once we compete at the senior competitions and after that junior events seem simpler," Anish concluded.

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