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Novi Sad 2026: Star-studded field ready to dazzle in the season's first World Cup

A total of 291 athletes from 51 nations, highlighted by a galaxy of Paralympic medallists, will battle it out for top honours in the final event before the 2026 World Shooting Para Sport Championships in Changwon 23 Jul 2026
Laslo Suranji of Serbia
Local star Laslo Suranji will be eager to excel on home soil when he competes in R7 - men's 50m rifle 3 positions SH1 and R6 - mixed 50m rifle prone SH1 at Novi Sad.
ⒸGetty Images
By Priyanka Sharma l For World Shooting Para Sport

The focus turns to the Serbian city of Novi Sad – a regular host of the World Shooting Para Sport Grand Prix since 2019 – as it welcomes a star-studded field, including a galaxy of Paralympic medallists, in its first ever World Cup from 24 to 29 July at the Streljana Novi Sad shooting range.

The Novi Sad 2026 WSPS World Cup, set to serve as a test event before the 2026 World Shooting Para Sport Championships in Changwon, South Korea in September, is also the biggest shooting Para sport event held in Serbia since the 2018 European 10m Championships in Belgrade.  

The event carries added significance this year, as athletes can achieve Minimum Qualification Scores (MQS) for both the 2026 and 2027 WSPS World Championships, making Novi Sad a key milestone on the road to the sport’s biggest stages in the lead-up to the LA28 Paralympic Games. 

The World Cup will also offer an opportunity for vision impaired (VI) shooters to test themselves ahead of the World Championships.

A total of 291 athletes (191 men and 100 women) from 51 nations are expected to compete at the Novi Sad 2026 World Cup which will be streamed live on the ISSF YouTube channel, with full coverage on across World Shooting Para Sport social media.  

 

Paralympic giants

With 52 Paralympic medallists – including 18 medallists from the Paris 2024 Games - the Novi Sad 2026 WSPS World Cup promises a thrilling contest and a glimpse of what to expect at Changwon 2026. 

China, the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic table toppers, field the largest delegation with 21 athletes, followed by Kazakhstan with 17. South Korea, which finished on top at Paris 2024, will have 14 shooters while Slovakia and hosts Serbia are each represented by 11 athletes.

Four-time Paralympic champion Yang Chao – China's most decorated athlete who captured two gold medals (P3 - mixed 25m pistol SH1 and P4 - mixed 50m pistol SH1) and one silver (P1 - men’s 10m air pistol SH1) at Paris 2024 – will make his Novi Sad debut competing in three events. Chao also holds the world record in the P1 - men's 10m air pistol SH1 (241.8). 

Another seasoned star Dong Chao, the Tokyo 2020, Rio 2016 and London 2012 gold medallist in the R1 - men's 10 m air rifle standing SH1, will also be in action in Novi Sad. 

Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Cuiping Zhang, who claimed a bronze medal at Paris 2024, will spearhead China's women's campaign. She will compete in her signature event, the R8 - women's 50m rifle 3 positions SH1.

 

More Asian stars

India may be without their biggest shooting star – two-time Paralympic champion Avani Lekhara – but still boasts a strong nine-member team featuring Manish Narwal and emerging rifle star Mona Agarwal.

Narwal is the Tokyo 2020 champion in the P4 - mixed 50m pistol SH1 and the P1 - men's 10m air pistol SH1 silver medallist at Paris 2024, while Agarwal claimed the R2 - women's 10m air rifle standing SH1 bronze medal, the same event in which Lekhara won the gold. 
 
Another Asian shooting giant, Sareh Javanmardi is set to compete in Novi Sad for the first time. The Iranian has four Paralympic golds – three of them in the P2 – women’s 10m air pistol SH1 (Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024) – and is preparing for her first World Championships appearance in seven years.  

Paris 2024 silver medallist Yerkin Gabbasov will lead Kazakhstan's challenge hoping to capitalise on the absence of Korea's veteran Jinho Park, the double Paralympic champion in Paris, in the R1 - men's 10m air rifle standing SH1. Gabbasov will compete in both R1 and R3 - mixed 10m air rifle prone SH1.

The Korean team will be led by Jo Jeong-du, the Paris 2024 Paralympic gold medallist and Al Ain 2022 World Champion in the P1. Other leading names include Seo Hun-tae, the Paris 2024 bronze medallist in the R5 - mixed 10m air rifle prone SH2.

 

Home favourites

The home team will look to Dragan Ristic, the back-to-back Paralympic champion in the R9 - mixed 50m rifle prone SH. Ristic is also a Paris 2024 gold medallist in the R5, making him one of the top favourites on home soil. 

Laslo Suranji, another local star, will be eager to excel on home soil when he competes in R7 - men's 50m rifle 3 positions SH1 and R6 - mixed 50m rifle prone SH1, the events he has a gold and a bronze respectively at Rio 2016 Paralympics.

Among other European stars is Slovakia's Veronika Vadovicova, a five-time Paralympic champion, who will be aiming for her first gold medal in Novi Sad. A Worlds medallist and the R3 world record holder (255.7), Vadovicova will compete in the R2 - women's 10m air rifle standing SH1, R3 - mixed 10m air rifle prone SH1, R6 - mixed 50m rifle prone SH1 and R8 - women's 50m rifle 3 positions SH1.

Germany will have one of their biggest Paris 2024 stars - Natascha Hiltrop, who claimed double gold medals in the R6 and R8.

Among other top names on the field are Sweden's Anna Benson, a two-time Paralympic silver medallist in the R8; Ukraine's Vasyl Kovalchuk, gold medallist at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 (R4 - mixed 10m air rifle standing SH2); and Turkiye's Aysel Ozgan, the Paris 2024 silver medallist in the P2. 

 

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