New Delhi, The Indian junior and senior Shooting squads, both of whom topped the medals tally in the last held ISSF World Cup stages- the junior competition in Suhl, Germany, in May and the senior world cup stage in Changwon, Korea, in July, were on Saturday felicitated by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) here.

The Shooters and members of the support staff of both the squads were honoured with a commemorative NRAI trophy on the occasion. Among those present on the occasion besides the members and support staff of the squads, were NRAI senior vice-president Kalikesh Narayen Singh Deo, NRAI secretary general K Sultan Singh and Karni Singh Shooting Range (KSSR) administrator Dr GP Goswami.

Addressing the gathering, Singh Deo said, "It was a fantastic performance by both the squads and you should applaud yourself the loudest. We at the NRAI had decided to honour you for your performance the moment you came back from your assignments, because every medal that you win for the country is precious. We also wanted you to know that our foremost goal of winning an Olympic gold medal remains the focus and we are trying to provide you with all the necessary support that you need to achieve the same."

"We have already got the best domestic and international coaches for you and there are also physiotherapists as well as mental conditioning and therapy professionals, also now associated with the squads. We are also trying our best to professionalise the sport further by bringing in High Performance Directors for example, who will be joining the squads soon. With Paris just about two years away, you will continue to find more such things being introduced, in order that you can perform at your best for India."

Some prominent Shooters who were present personally to collect their trophies were Olympians Anjum Moudgil (50m 3P bronze, Changwon), Manu Bhaker (10m & 25m pistol silver, Suhl) and some talented juniors like Rhythm Sangwan (25m pistol gold, Suhl), Naamya Kapoor (25m pistol bronze, Suhl) and Abhinav Shaw (10m Air Rifle silver, Suhl), among others.

At Suhl, the squad won a whopping 36 medals with 14 gold, 16 silver and six bronze whereas in Changwon, the senior squad also topped the table with India winning five gold, six silver and four bronze medals for a total of 15 medals. At Changwon, in the senior combined (Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun) World Cup, India again topped the table with 15 medals with a break-up of.

The shooters are now in national camps yet again with the next assignments being the national selection trials followed by the World Championships in September/October.