Shot at redemption: After flop shows at previous two Olympics, Indian shooting team keeps expectations in check

Vinayak Padmadeo

New Delhi, July 21

It is make or break time for the Indian shooting team as it heads to the Paris Olympics. The sport that gave India its first individual gold medal at the Olympics — Abhinav Bindra winning the 10m air rifle title in 2008 Beijing — is running on borrowed time. Since the 2012 London Olympics, where Vijay Kumar won silver in rapid fire and Gagan Narang won bronze in 10m air rifle, the sport is gasping for breath.

The shooting contingent, which is consistently amongst the top countries in the medal tally at the World Cups, returned empty-handed from two successive Olympics — 2016 Rio de Janeiro and 2020 Tokyo.

So what will happen in Paris, rather at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre, some three hours from the French capital? The expectations are once again high from the 21-member team, the highest participation from the country. For a sport on which the government spends the most — the Sports Authority of India has spent Rs 60.40 crore in the last three years — the results in Paris will be very important for shooting’s future in the country.

However, unlike the last time, the build-up is missing. The administrators and coaches, who in the past have talked freely about the team’s medal prospects, are keeping their expectations to themselves. It seems they have learned their lessons from Tokyo, where many of the Indian shooters, including Elavenil Valarivan, Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker, were touted as sure shot medal winners. The results told a different story, with only Saurabh managing to enter the final.

Flying under radar

The shooters also benefitted from the fact that there was less media attention on them because of the T20 World Cup.

“The shooters never claim big, it is only the administrators who claim we will win these many medals,” rifle coach Deepali Deshpande said. “Since we have not won in the last two Olympics, they are keeping quiet this time,” she added.

“The other good thing that has happened was the media’s focus on the cricket team’s World Cup win. Our shooters left before getting hassled about expectations. Sometimes it irritates them as the most asked question is ‘how many medals are we expecting’. It’s a good thing that there is less focus on them this time,” she added.

Deepali also said that the Tokyo results should be written off as Covid restrictions threw all the planning and preparations out. “We have never discussed what happened in Tokyo. Seven months were lost due to lockdowns. After that we were all scrambling to get to competitions and went wherever it was possible. Also we were all stressed to not get the virus. We had to give samples daily and then anxiously wait for the results. So yes Tokyo was a one-off,” she said.

Trials pressure

This time, the rifle and pistol shooters came through a gruelling period of four trials in the space of a month to book a place on the Olympics team. “It was a dress rehearsal and if we can come through that we can cope with any stress,” said a shooter who did not wish to be named.

Privately, the administrators are counting on podium finishes from both the rifle and pistol teams but there is a big catch. The finals format has been changed for the Paris competition. Earlier, the qualification rounds and medal rounds were conducted within the space of a few hours. This time, the finals will be held a day after qualification. Former coach Joydeep Karmakar, however, said it will not affect our shooters.

“Shooters adapt quickly to rule changes. We have had a lot of rule changes in the past and they got the hang of it. This time too they will adapt to the new rule change. I do not see this affecting the team’s chances but the only thing is we have to keep them fresh,” he said.

Shooting

Men

10m air pistol: Sarabjot Singh, Arjun Cheema
Qualification: July 27
Final: July 28

10m air rifle: Sandeep Singh, Arjun Babuta
Qualification: July 28
Final: July 29

Trap: Prithviraj Tondaiman
Qualification: July 29-30
Final: July 30

50m rifle 3 positions: Swapnil Kusale, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar
Qualification: July 31
Final: August 1

25m rapid fire pistol: Anish Bhanwala, Vijayveer Sidhu
Qualification: August 4
Final: August 5

Skeet: Anantjeet Singh Naruka
Qualification: August 2-3
Final: August 3

Women

10m air pistol: Manu Bhaker, Rhythm Sangwan
Qualification: July 27
Final: July 28

10m air rifle: Elavenil Valarivan, Ramita Jindal
Qualification: July 28
Final: July 29

Trap: Rajeshwari Kumari, Shreyasi Singh
Qualification: July 30-31
Final: July 31

50m rifle 3 positions: Sift Kaur Samra, Anjum Moudgil
Qualification: August 1
Final: August 2

25m pistol: Esha Singh, Manu Bhaker
Qualification: August 2
Final: August 3

Skeet: Raiza Dhillon, Maheshwari Chauhan
Qualification: August 3-4
Final: August 4

Mixed team

10m air rifle
Qualification and final: July 27

10m air pistol
Qualification: July 29
Final: July 30

Skeet
Qualification and final: August 5