Tangier: Bhowneesh Mendiratta will aim to put the Paris Olympics heartbreak behind him when he leads the Indian charge at the season-opening ISSF Shotgun World Cup here, eyeing a strong start to a busy calendar that features the Asian Games and the World Championships later this year. Trap shooter Bhowneesh, who had secured India’s first quota for the Paris Olympics but missed out in the trials, will be keen to hit the ground running here from Wednesday as the qualification cycle for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics gets underway.
Bhowneesh didn’t drop his guard after the setback in 2024, clinching individual silver at the Asian Championship in Shymkent late last year to reaffirm his status as the country’s top trap shooter.
India has sent a 12-member squad for trap and skeet events across the men’s and women’s events, along with two trap mixed teams, supported by a large contingent of foreign coaches, physiotherapists, and psychologists, even as top trap shooter Zoravar Singh Sandhu misses out on the lineup. Zoravar became only the third Indian to win a World Championships al last year, clinching a bronze. agencies