Mental steel, better stance and new trigger do it for Deepak Kumar
NEWDELHI: Deepak Kumar vividly remembers the fleeting moment that made him so frustrated that he almost asked his coach, “Please don’t waste time on me. I don’t think I can win an Olympic quota place.” That was in Frankfurt during a training session before the ISSF Munich World Cup in May. Kumar was struggling to even qualify for the finals, leave alone seal an Olympic berth. Standing at the lane with the target staring at him, Kumar was about to break down.
“I was feeling so demoralised because I was not able to do it despite putting in so much of hard work. I was still shooting good scores like 627 in the qualification but others were shooting better (629-630). In that moment in Frankfurt I felt like crying. I just wanted to leave everything and run away. But then I gathered myself and told myself that I can still crack it,” Kumar said.
On Tuesday, Kumar felt a huge burden was off his shoulders as he grabbed the 2020 Tokyo Olympics quota in 10m men’s air rifle at the Asian Shooting Championships in Doha and winning bronze in the process. He went into the qualification match knowing that it will be his last attempt. The Air Force sergeant shot 626.8 to qualify in third place.
In the final, Kumar made a poor start shooting 8.9 with the first shot but quickly recovered to be placed second after the second series. He eventually finished third (227.8) behind two Chinese shooters—Liu Yukun (250.5) and Yu Haonan (249.1). In the eightman final, there were five finalists who were eligible to win the three available quota places and Kumar made sure India had one. It was India’s second quota in men’s 10m air rifle after Divyansh Panwar, and 10th overall.
“I can’t tell you how light I am feeling. Winning an Olympic berth for the country was the first step and now the motivation will be to keep performing to seal my place in the team,” Kumar said.
In the season’s last World Cup in Rio, Kumar, the senior-most member of the rifle team, came close to winning an Olympic quota when he qualified for the final with a score of 627.9. Of the eight shooters in the final only three were eligible to get a Tokyo berth but Kumar finished seventh. “When you come so close, it makes you believe that success is around the corner. I spoke to my coaches and worked on few things and it helped me stay calm here,” he said. The Asian Games silver medallist made changes in his stance for better balance and also had a new trigger.
“But the most important part was the mental make-up to remain focussed and confident. I was under pressure and took it up as a challenge. I told myself ‘if I can do it under pressure, it will be a big bonus’,” said the birthday boy who turned 32.
BHAKER WINS GOLD
Manu Bhaker (244.3) defeated Asian Games champion from China Wang Qian (242.8) to win gold in the in women’s 10m air pistol. The other Indian in the final, Yashaswini Singh Deswal finished sixth (157.4). Bhaker and Deswal, both of whom have already qualified for Tokyo, shot 584 and 578 respectively in the qualification round, where the former finished on top.
The women’s team (Bhaker, Deswal and Annu Raj Singh) also won bronze with a total of 1731, behind Korea and China. In women’s 10m air rifle, Elavenil Valarivan, Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi Chandela won the team silver with 1883.2 points, behind Korea (1891.7). India won a gold in junior trap mixed team where Vivaan Kapoor and Manisha Keer defeated China’s Ting Zhang and Pengyu Chen 34-29 in the gold medal match.