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The Paris Olympics shooting selection trials witnessed a fierce battle for spots, with nine out of 16 quotas in rifle and pistol events changing hands. The onus was on quota winners to defend their places, but even world championship medallists like Rudrankksh Patil, Mehuli Ghosh, and Akhil Sheoran were swept aside.Rhythm Sangwan and Esha Singh swapped places in the 10m pistol and 25m pistol events, respectively. However, the biggest casualty was Rudrankksh, the 2022 world champion and only the second Indian air rifle shooter after Abhinav Bindra to win a world title. Mehuli and Sheoran, who had secured Olympic quotas with bronze medals at the world championships, also lost their places.The selection trials were held over four rounds in Delhi and Bhopal, with the shooters' three best scores considered. The bonus points for quota winners were reduced to level the playing field.The new policy was introduced after the debacle in Tokyo, where shooters who had performed well in the qualification cycle failed to deliver at the Olympics. The trials were designed to select the team based on current form.In men's 10m air rifle, Sandeep Singh emerged as the surprise topper, ahead of quota winner Arjun Babuta and Rudrankksh. In women's 10m air rifle, Tokyo Olympian Elavenil came to the fore, while Asian Games medallist Ramita Jindal grabbed the second place. In men's rifle 3P, Aishwary Pratap Tomar topped and sealed his place, beside Swapnil Kusale.The final call to pick the team remains with the NRAI selection committee, but it will be difficult to make any changes considering that the team has been selected through a policy. Paris will put the new policy to test, and India will hope that the Worlds medallists are not missed too much.

Four Indian wrestlers who have secured quota berths for the Paris Olympics have appealed to the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) to exempt them from selection trials, citing the proximity of the Games and the potential impact on their preparation.Aman Sehrawat (57kg), Reetika Hooda (76kg), Nisha Dahiya (68kg), and Anshu Malik (57kg) have individually written to the WFI, requesting their selection without trials. They argue that with only 10 weeks remaining before the Olympics, every day of training is crucial and that preparing for additional competitions would disrupt their plans."It leaves us with just 10 weeks of preparation time before the event, which is already less considering the timelines. Every single day of training is very important for me. Around this crucial time, preparing for another competition again affects my training plan, my diet, weight maintenance, and I will lose out on a lot of practice sessions because of this," one wrestler wrote in their letter.The wrestlers also expressed concerns about the risk of injuries at this stage. "It is too close to the Paris Olympics. If trials are held, all our focus will be on that instead of preparation towards Paris," said one wrestler.The WFI has scheduled a selection committee meeting on Tuesday to discuss the wrestlers' request. A member of the committee acknowledged the wrestlers' concerns and stated that all aspects would be considered."There is no doubt the Paris Olympics are very close and you want the wrestlers to completely focus on preparation at this point. The selection committee will look into every aspect," said the member.If the trials are not held, Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Ravi Dahiya will not have a second chance to qualify in the 57kg category.India has a strong tradition in wrestling, having won at least one medal in the last four Olympics. The country's wrestlers have won a total of seven medals in the sport.

The United World Wrestling (UWW) has reaffirmed the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) as its sole "affiliated member" with the exclusive authority to "elect and announce their teams" for international tournaments, including the Paris Olympics qualifiers.In a letter to WFI President Sanjay Singh, UWW President Nenad Lalovic emphasized that the WFI is responsible for selecting and announcing teams for continental championships, world championships, Olympic Games Qualifying Tournaments, and other international events. Lalovic, who is also an IOC Executive Board Member, clarified that only UWW-affiliated national federations can register for international events.This clarification comes after the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) ad-hoc panel was assigned the task of conducting selection trials for the Asian Olympic Games Qualifier and Asian Championships following a Delhi High Court hearing. The WFI had initially issued a notice to conduct its own selection trials, but withdrew it after the court ruled that parallel trials could not be held.The Delhi High Court was hearing a plea filed by four protesting wrestlers, Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, and Satyawart Kadian, who challenged the WFI's notice. They argued that the federation had deliberately issued the notice despite being barred by the Sports Ministry from conducting championships and knowing about the ad-hoc committee's announcement of trials.WFI President Sanjay Singh expressed concern that the wrestlers should not suffer and that the country's interests should be prioritized in an Olympic year. He urged the government to ensure that wrestlers have the opportunity to compete and that the best interests of the nation are served.The trials for Greco Roman and freestyle wrestlers will be held at SAI Sonipat on March 10, while trials for women wrestlers will take place at NSNIS Patiala on March 11. The winners in the Olympic weight category will represent India in upcoming Olympic qualifiers, including the Asian Olympic Qualifiers (April 19-21) and World Olympic Qualifiers (May 9-12).