First shooting qualifier ruefully eyes Paris from Goa

Vinayak Padmadeo

New Delhi, July 25

Trap shooter Bhowneesh Mehdiratta knows his name may appear in a quiz question. After all he is the first shotgun shooter from India to not take part in the Olympics after earning the quota. Importantly, he was the first Indian athlete to earn the quota for the Paris Olympics when he finished fourth at the World Championships in 2022.

“I know I have become a quiz question,” Mehdiratta told The Tribune from Goa. The 26-year-old from Faridabad is now trying to put his disappointment aside and help his father Pankaj run his dream venture, a beach club called Gypsea at Goa’s Anjuna beach.

“I will not lie I was visualising myself in Paris but I am a firm believer in God’s plans. Disappointments apart, I will watch the opening ceremony from here and cheer for my team,” he said.

Prthiviraj Tondaiman replaced him in the team after two years of gruelling selection process. In the last months before the team’s announcement, Mehdiratta was set near impossible targets to win his place back after sliding down the rankings. He shot a national record score of 124/125 at the selection trials in March and then 123/125 at the Lonato World Cup but failed in the end.

“It was very hard to win my place. Even though I finished fourth it was near impossible. I had to win the gold medal to get my place back. This fact was all over social media when the final was going on,” he said.

“Even when I had won the quota I was subject to pressure and scrutiny as everyone was judging me. Honestly, it took a toll on me for at least two months but you realise that as a sportsperson you have to shut out the outside noise,” he added.

Mehdiratta said he has moved on and has already set his sights on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. “You realise your fight is within. I have already started to think about LA,” he said.