New Delhi, July 5 Indian Paralympic shooting team, Indian Tigers, lost to Italian Style 10:1 in their first match of the Online Shooting League.
The Italian Style, which has two Olympic quota winners Marco Suppini and Lorenzo Bacci, proved too strong for the Indian team which consisted of para shooters fielded by the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI).
Krishan Kumar, winner of silver medal in men's 10m Air Rifle at 2019 national shooting championship, Jyoti Sannakki, winner of silver medal in Air Rifle (Women) at 2019 national championships and national shooter from Haryana Ishank Ahuja formed the Indian team.
The Italian Style were 9-0 and it seemed they would win it straight but the Indian Tigers claimed a point to make it 9-1, thanks to a perfect 10.9 by Krishan on the 11th shot.
There was also a tie in the fifth round with both teams shooting 31.5, but in the end, the Italian challenge proved too much for their Indian counterparts.
Shimon Sharif, the organiser of the league, had initially wanted participation from elite Indian shooters but National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) refused to allow any of them to take part in it.
Former India shooter Sharif then thought of fielding a team comprising former Indian shooters but eventually found a backer in PCI with President and Paralympics silver medallist Deepa Malik extending full support.
The inaugural edition will see only rifle shooters taking part in the event from July 4-26 where shooters will shoot on electronic targets from their homes.
Every team will consist of 3 rifle shooters. The format used will be "Race to 10" in which the shooters of the two teams will take a shot each.
The team with the higher total of 3 shots takes the point and whichever team reaches 10 points first wins that match. There will only be one match between two teams in a day.
( With inputs from IANS )