The opening ISSF World Cup of the year, in Cairo, has attracted a welter of talented athletes, many of whom have already earned quota places for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Among those taking part at this event which officially opened today- the first of six ISSF World Cups in 2024 – will be a raft of medallists from this month’s Asian Championships for Rifle and Pistol, staged in Jakarta, and for Shotgun, staged in Kuwait.
Will they be on a roll? Or will the swift succession of competitive challenges take a toll? Time will tell as events unfold at the shooting range of the Egypt International Olympic City.in the Egyptian capital.
The hosts will field a team of 44 which will include the Mehelba brothers Abdel Aziz, who won the men’s trap at the World Cup Final in Doha last November, and world skeet bronze medallist Azmy, who took silver at that same event after losing one of the sport’s great shoot-offs 25-26, with gold going to Norway’s Emil Petersen – another who will start in Cairo.
But the largest contingent of shooters comes from India, who field a team of 49 that includes 19-year-old Raiza Dhillon, who earned her country a Paris 2024 quota place for women’s skeet after taking silver in Kuwait, Akhil Sheoran, the world silver medallist and Asian champion in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions and Anant Naruka, men’s skeet silver medallist and quota winner at the Asian Championships.
Also in the team for India are Varun Tomar, winner of the Asian title in the men’s 10m air pistol and Nancy Nancy, Asian champion in the women’s 10m air rifle.
The men’s and women’s Athletes of the Year will feature in Cairo.
Doreen Vennekamp of Germany, who equalled the world record of 40 in winning the world 25m pistol title in 2023 and who added World Cup Final silver, is in a hugely competitive field that also includes the Hungarian athlete who set that world record in 2019, Veronika Major.
Clement Bessaguet, twice world silver medallist in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol, faces one of his keenest rivals in the form of 28-year-old fellow Frenchman Jean Quiquampoix, the Rio 2016 silver medallist and Tokyo 2020 champion.
Also in the mix for that event will be Kazakhstan’s Asian champion Nikita Chiryugin and India’s Asian silver medallist Sidhu Vijayveer.
Kazakhstan’s team of 32 includes the women’s World Cup Final gold medallist in the women’s skeet, Assem Orynbay.
Italy are another nation fielding a large team, with 34 athletes named including Federico Maldini, winner of the men’s 25m rapid fire title at last year’s ISSF World Cup in Rio de Janeiro.
A British contingent of 18 includes Tokyo 2020 men’s trap bronze medallist Matthew Coward-Holley and Seonaid McIntosh, the 2018 world champion in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions who set a world record of 467 points at last year’s Baku World Cup.
The Republic of Korea are fielding 30 athletes, with Germany and France bringing 27 shooters each to Cairo.
As well as Vennekamp, Germany will field the World Cup Final gold medallist in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol, Florian Peter.
The Czech Republic team is 20-strong and includes the Tokyo 2020 men’s trap champion Jiri Liptak and Petr Nymbursky, the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions silver medallist.
No quota places for the 2024 Olympics will be awarded but ranking points will be recognised for Paris, as per ISSF Rules.
The first finals take place tomorrow – the men’s 10m air pistol, followed by the women’s 10m air pistol, with live broadcasting on the ISSF’s You Tube and Facebook platforms.