BHIM-UPI TOISA 2019 Nominees: Shooting

NEW DELHI: The fourth edition of the Times of India Sports Awards (TOISA), powered by BHIM-UPI, is India's first of its kind and largest multi-discipline people's choice sports awards. TOISA is a platform created by the Times Group to recognise and reward Indian sporting talent and achievements on a global scale and will be held soon to honour the lionhearts who have given their blood, sweat and tears to make the country proud.
Ahead of the TOISA to be held on March 5, here's a recap of the how these Indian shooters fared in the year 2019.
Saurabh Chaudhary
The year 2019 was truly magnificent for Indian shooter Saurabh Chaudhary. The 17-year-old from Meerut came up with a stunning display of pistol shooting, winning two individual gold medals and four team gold medals in the ISSF World Cups. The young sensation won two silver medals at the Asian Shooting Championships in Doha before ending the year by clinching a silver medal at the ISSF World Cup Final in Putian. Saurabh has emerged as one of India's finest pistol shooters and is a safe medal bet in most tournaments. He has booked a quota place for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and is a big medal prospect in Tokyo.
Abhishek Verma
For lawyer-turned-shooter Abhishek Verma, the road to glory has been quite uncharacteristic. The 30-year-old from Haryana was a hobby shooter. A B-Tech graduate in computer science who went on to get a degree in law, Abhishek took up the sport in 2015, as a hobby, at the age of 25. In April 2019, Abhishek bagged a Tokyo Olympics quota berth by winning gold in the men's 10m air pistol event at the ISSF World Cup in Beijing. Abhishek's feat was commendable, considering it was only his second World Cup appearance. He won gold in a field that had the likes of Beijing Olympic champion Pang Wei of China and multiple World Cup medallist and former world record holder in this event, Oleh Omelchuck of Ukraine. In August 2019, Abhishek won the gold medal in the men's 10m air pistol event at the ISSF World Cup in Rio de Janeiro. He also bagged a silver with Yashaswini Singh Deswal in the mixed 10m air pistol. In September 2019, Abhishek climbed to second place in the ISSF World rankings. He also won a silver in 10m air pistol at the Asian Shooting Championships in Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Sanjeev Rajput
Veteran Indian rifle shooter Sanjeev Rajput had a fruitful 2019, winning silver at the ISSF World Cup in Rio de Janeiro in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions event. With the podium finish, he also obtained a quota for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Sanjeev also won a Team Silver 50m Rifle Prone at the 2019 Asian Championships in Doha. The 39-year-old Arjuna Award winner from Haryana is a veteran of two Olympics (2008 and 2012) and gearing up for a third appearance at Tokyo 2020.

Manu Bhaker
Rising Indian shooter Manu Bhaker started off 2019 with a bang as she won the gold medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team event at ISSF World Cup in Delhi in February. In May 2019, Manu qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 10m pistol event via a fourth place finish at the Munich ISSF World Cup. In all the four Pistol & Rifle ISSF World Cups in 2019, (New Delhi, Beijing, Munich and Rio de Janeiro), Manu won the gold medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team event with Saurabh Chaudhary as her partner, making the pair a strong contender for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
In March 2019, Manu and Saurabh smashed the qualification world record before clinching the 10m air pistol mixed team gold in the 12th Asian Airgun Championship in Taoyuan, Taipei. Manu, who also won gold at the Asian Shooting Championships in Doha, ended the year on a high by claiming gold medals in the individual and team events at the ISSF World Cup Final in Putian, China.
Rahi Sarnobat
In May 2019, Rahi booked an Olympic quota place for India with a gold in the women's 25m pistol event at the season's third ISSF World Cup in Munich. The second World Cup gold of Rahi's career helped India win its sixth quota place in shooting for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In September 2019, Rahi won the National Shooting Trial event in the women's 25m pistol event in New Delhi.
Anjum Moudgil
The year 2019 has been a terrific year for ace Indian shooter Anjum Moudgil who turned her silver lining into a golden one at the world stage. Anjum, who won four silver medals (3 World Cup and 1 CWG) in 2018, clinched two gold medals and one bronze in the 10m air rifle mixed team event at World Cups in 2019. Anjum combined well with teenager Divyansh Pawar to claim three World Cup medals in the Mixed Team event in 2019. The 25-year-old Anjum, who earned an Olympic quota place for India at the 2018 Changwon World Championships, was also conferred the Arjuna Award in 2019 for her great show at the global stage.
Apurvi Chandela
After a somewhat below-par 2018, India's Apurvi Chandela bounced back hard in 2019, with a record-breaking gold medal in the women's 10m air rifle event after shooting a world-record score of 252.9 in the final at the ISSF Delhi World Cup. With this win, Chandela became only the second Indian after Anjali Bhagwat to win a gold in the women's 10m air rifle event at a World Cup. Chandela continued her golden run, as she won her second yellow metal of the year in the individual event at the ISSF World Cup in Munich. She also went on to win silver in the mixed team event in Munich and also claimed the top spot in the women's 10m air rifle category in the ISSF World Rankings. Chandela, who became the first Indian shooter to win quota for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, bettered her Munich mixed team performance by clinching a gold at the ISSF World Cup in Rio - claiming her third World Cup gold of the year 2019.