RAVI, APURVI SETTLE FOR BRONZE
PALEMBANG: If one was looking up to the Indian shooting contingent to provide a spark that could kick-start their campaign at the Asian Games, one was left disappointed as the team of 16-year-old shooting sensation Manu Bhaker and Abhishek Verma could not make it to the finals of the air pistol mixed team event. A below-par showing from the 10m air rifle duo Apurvi Chandela and Ravi Kumar only earned them a bronze, at the Jakabaring Complex ranges . More than anything, Bhaker left in a huff after the teenager she and Verma finished sixth in qualification.
If one was looking up to the Indian shooting contingent to provide a spark that could kickstart their campaign at the Asian Games, one was left disappointed as the team of 16-year-old shooting sensation Manu Bhaker and Abhishek Verma could not make it to the finals of the air pistol mixed team event. A below-par showing from the 10m air rifle duo Apurvi Chandela and Ravi Kumar only earned them a bronze, at the Jakabaring Complex ranges on Sunday.
More than anything, Bhaker, shouldering great expectation following her World Cup gold in Guadalajara (Mexico), left in a huff after the teenager she and Verma finished sixth in qualification. Only the top five teams make it to the final.
Soon after, the seasoned duo of Chandela and Ravi Kumar, after being in contention for silver following a superb qualification where they were placed second, slid in the finals to settle for bronze, in an event where they were favourites.
With this showing, India who were favourites to clinch gold in both events, will now be banking on individual disciplines to boost their tally, but given the cutthroat competition from South Korea, China and even Vietnam, things might get tougher.
Ravi Kumar could have drawn on his experience - and expertise - of the 2014 Asian Games at Incheon where he won the team bronze with Abhinav Bindra and Sanjeev Rajput, but he was “offcolour” and it was left to Chandela, the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth gold medallist to take over and guide the team to bronze.
Placed second after the qualification round with 835.3 points, the duo looked set to give a tough fight to leaders Korea, who set a Qualification Games Record of 836.7, but it was not to be as the slide continued and the Indian pair was the third to be eliminated after Mongolia and South Korea to amass 429.9 points. Chinese Taipei won the gold with a Games record of 494.1, while China came second with 429.9 points.
Traditionally, Indian shooters have started poorly at the continental games, and unlike the Commonwealth Games, they have only had measly picking in the Asian Games, but the way Bhaker and Verma capitulated, left many questions unanswered.
There was an unsettled feeling about the way they went about their task and a senior coach confided that they only had one training session together before the mega event. “Coordination, how to time your shots with your partner are important aspects of the game and that rhythm was missing,” he said.
The Indian pistol duo bowed out to Kazakhstan, who secured the fifth and last place in the finals on account of more ‘inner 10s’. While India had 14 inner 10s, Kazakhstan had 25. In shooting parlance ‘inner 10s’ means closest to the bullseye and the rule is applied when two teams are tied. India has few shots.
It might not be the end of the Asian Games campaign for Bhaker – she will compete in individual 10m air rifle and sports pistol – but it certainly did put a question mark on the ability of such talented and young shooters unable to cope with pressure.