New Delhi [India], Feb 27 (NT):  Following of a long and important season for the National Shooting squad, A team of 10 shooters and four officials departed for Guadalajara, Mexico, to participate in the year's first International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup stage Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun.

The competition is programmed between March 1-12, in which a total of 15 medal events and three mixed team events will happen.

The shooters who left for the world sports event were Trap shooting exponents Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Kynan Chennai, Zoravar Singh Sandhu, Shreyasi Singh, Shagun Chowdhary and Seema Tomar as well as Rifle and Pistol shooters Annu Raj Singh, Tejaswini Sawant, Anjum Moudgil and N. Gaayathri.

The second batch of the 33-strong squad is scheduled to leave on Tuesday, while the final batch is scheduled to depart on March 3.

"It's a big season for the National squad and I wish all team members the very best, especially to the youngsters in the squad, many of whom will be donning the senior India colors for the very first time. We have a strong and balanced squad and I expect good results to continue to come out of shooting for India internationally," said Raninder Singh, President of National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).

The National shooting squad has two important multi-sport, multi-country events with the Commonwealth Games programmed for April and the Asian Games in August.

The ISSF World Championships will be the first quota event for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and is also programmed for August. (NT)