NRAI congratulates Paris Olympic medalists Manu Bhaker, Sarabjot Singh, Swapnil Kusale and others

Olympic medalists Manu Bhaker, Swapnil Kusale and Sarabjot Singh were honoured with cash prizes and gifts by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) on Saturday.

For her incredible feat of winning two bronze medals in air pistol shooting, individually and in pairs with Sarabjot, 22-year-old Manu received Rs 45,000,000. Sarabjot got his share of Rs 1.5 million, while the medalist in three-position rifle shooting, Swapnil, got Rs 3 million.

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The NRAI had the honour of presenting cash prizes of Rs 500,000 to High Performance Director Dr. Pierre Beauchamp and coaches Thomas Farnik, Manoj Kumar and Samaresh Jung.

Memorabilia were presented to many other coaches, including Ronak Pandit, and all the support staff who had worked with the shooters.

All the shooters who participated in the Olympics and were able to compete were honoured. The other Olympic quota winners who could not compete in Paris after the selection trials, such as Akhil Sheoran, Mehuli Ghosh and Shriyanka Sadangi, were also honoured for paving the way for the shooters to win 50 percent of the country’s six Olympic medals.

NRAI Acting President Kalikesh Singh Deo praised the shooters for securing a record 21 Olympic quota places and their brilliant performance in Paris.

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Special mention went to Arjun Babuta and the duo Maheshwari Chauhan and Anantjeet Singh Naruka, who finished a heartbreaking fourth in the men’s air rifle shooting and the mixed skeet shooting respectively.

Chief of Mission Gagan Narang, Olympic silver medallist Vijay Kumar and a number of others, including Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) President Raja Randhir Singh, were present to mark the occasion.

Former Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi happily presented most of the awards.

Sponsors Pernod Ricard and Diljeet Titus made it an unforgettable evening for the shooting community, while the hotel organized a special cake for the Olympic medalists.

NRAI Secretary General Sultan Singh said the shooters’ inspirational performance in Paris will compel generations of Indian athletes to raise the bar even higher.