New Delhi, May 3 (IANS): The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), the governing body for the Olympic sport of shooting in the country, will fund the entire trip of 14 non-Olympic event shooters for the upcoming ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany.

India is set to field a 51-member contingent in the premiere event of the international junior shooting calendar, which will take place in the German city from May 9-20, 2022.

K Sultan Singh, secretary-general, NRAI, said, "51 shooters were selected by the NRAI based on the top three rankings. Out of them, 37 for Olympic events are being sponsored by the Sports Authority of India and 14 for non-Olympic events will be sponsored by NRAI.

"We strongly believe that such quality exposure at a young age will only help them parallelly develop skills for Olympic events in the future as well. Several such examples have been witnessed in the past. Also, you never quite know which event will become an Olympic event going forward," he added.

The Indian squad will also be accompanied by a 15-member support contingent of coaches, physios and trainers. Among key members of the squad are Olympians Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker.