Italy : Junior Shotgun World Cup to start

Porpetto (Italy), Aug 16 (IANS)  Junior World Cup (Shotgun) is scheduled to start on Thursday and a 23-member Indian squad will take part in the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF).

The first day will see the Junior Women's Trap finals, the first of five medal events scheduled over the next six days, apart from the Mixed Team Trap event, which will be a test event.

The qualification round of the Junior Men's Trap will also commence on the opening day, with the final scheduled for Friday.

In the Junior Women's Trap, Manisha Keer, N. Nivetha, Soumya Gupta and Kirti Gupta will represent India. The Junior Men's Trap has five Indian representatives including Manavaditya Singh Rathore, Lakshay, Janmajai Singh Rathore, Vivaan Kapoor and Paranjayaditya Parmar.

A total of 220 athletes from 33 countries will take part in the event. In the previous ISSF Junior Shotgun World Cup held in Gabala last year, India had won four Bronze medals in the team category and will therefore be looking to win their first individual medal at this level.

The Indians are expected to face an uphill task from day one itself as among the big names participating will be the Junior Women's Trap World record holder Marie-Louis Meyer of Germany as well as the Junior Men's Trap World record holder Vili Kopra of Finland.