The growing clout of Indian shooters doesn’t seem to reflect in International Shooting Sport Federation’s (ISSF) long list of shortlisted candidates for the “Shooter of the Year 2023” award in men’s and women’s categories, with not a single athlete from the country figuring in it.
The shortlisted list, for which the voting will end on December 29, has 16 shooters in women’s and 18 in the men’s section with several of them in contention for the top award being from China, whom India is trying to beat in the international arena.
A statement on the ISSF website says that, “A suggested list of 18 male and 16 athletes has been sent within voting cards to eligible members of the Athletes Committee, Coaches Committee and ISSF media representatives, who are asked to list their top five men and women.
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“But it is stressed that proposed shooters need not come from the lists provided,” said the ISSF statement.
The ISSF’s ISSF Athletes Committee has listed the events it had considered all through the year to shortlist the candidates for voting purpose.
The ISSF Athletes Committee statement reads: “At the end of the 2023, which included two ISSF Grand Prix, 13 ISSF World Cups, the ISSF World Championship Juniors in Changwon, the 53rd ISSF World Championship, all events in Baku and the ‘come back’ of the ISSF World Cup Final in Doha, the International Shooting Sport Federation kindly asks all its members of the Athletes Committee and Coach Committee as well as the ISSF Media Representatives working on the shooting sport during this season, to vote for the ISSF Shooter of the Year 2023.
“Votes for the male and female ISSF Shooter of the Year 2023 are being invited by the chair of the ISSF Athletes Committee, with the deadline falling on December 29. It’s our pleasure to be able to again award our athletes with this honoured title,” said the ISSF statement.
The candidates have been shortlisted not just on the basis of their performance in 2023 but also on their behaviour and character.
Interestingly, India has fielded some of the largest contingents among competing countries in various international competitions this year, including the ISSF World Championships, ISSF World Cups, the Asian Championships and Hangzhou Asian Games, and its shooters have won several laurels and medals. Still, not a single shooter from the country figures in the list.
Indian shooters such as Sift Kaur Samra and Aishwary Partap Singh Tomar have performed remarkably well this year in several international competitions this year.
“The ISSF Shooter of the Year has been a role model for 24 years, from 1984-2017. A personality, who is successful through unique performances, behaviour and character. Possibly not always the most successful winner of the season, but a shooter who represents the special values of the shooting sport with commitment,” said the ISSF statement.
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“The title will be awarded at the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun, Cairo 2024, the first event of next year. Please vote for the ISSF Shooter of the Year 2023 in categories of Men and Women separately and use your voting card by emailing it before December 29, 2023 to ISSF at Athletes Committee,” said the ISSF statement.
The list of candidates:
Women: Danka Bartekova (SVK), Nina Christen (SUI), Jeanette Hegg Duestad (NOR), Sixuan Feng (CHN), Jiayu Han (CHN), Ranxin Jiang (CHN), Anna Korakaki (GRE), Xue Li (CHN), Veronika Major (HUN), Seonaid McIntosh (GBR), Assem Orynbay (KAZ), Jessica Rossi (ITA), Jenny Stene (NOR), Doreen Vennekamp (GER), Dania Jo Vizzi (USA), Qiongyue Zhang (CHN).
Men: Clement Bessaguet (FRA), Giovanni Cernogoraz (CRO), Yuehong Li (CHN), Yukun Liu (CHN), Jan Lochbihler (SUI), Azmy Mehelba (EGY), Damir Mikec (SRB), Efthimios Mitas (GRE), Petr Nymbursky (CZE), Naoya Okada (JPN), Zalan Pekler (HUN), Istvan Peni (HUN), Florian Peter (GER), Jiri Privratsky (CZE), Christian Reitz (GER), Alexander Schmirl (AUT), Lihao Sheng (CHN).