Top shooters fail to live up to India’s legacy in 10m air rifle
WORLD CUP Ravi, Deepak and Divyansh fall short of the final stage in an event that gave India two Olympic medals
NEW DELHI: When Abhinav Bindra became India’s first individual Olympic gold medallist in 2008 at the Beijing Games winning the 10m air rifle event, his feat not only inspired the next generation to take up air rifle shooting but laid a foundation for a legacy in the discipline.
Four years later Gagan Narang further carried that momentum by shooting bronze in the event at the 2012 London Olympics.
LEGACY
Top rifle shooters, however, failed to build on that legacy at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
With 2020 Tokyo Olympic qualification in process here at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Ranges, shooting fraternity would have expected someone from the national team to step into Bindra or Narang’s shoes. But that was not the case as none of the three Indian shooters in fray in 10 m air rifle could qualify for the final.
LOT TO IMPROVE
Going by the performance of Deepak Kumar (624), Ravi Kumar (627) and young Divyansh Panwar (627.2), who were aiming for a Tokyo Olympic quota place here, they have a lot to improve. A new star in air rifle isn’t on the horizon.
Narang, who is training hard to come back in the national team in the event, said it will take time to build up a legacy. “Even if the scores are bad instead of discouraging we should allow them to build up confidence for the next competition. That’s the right way to have a strong foundation,” said Narang.
“Adapting to decimal scoring system is all in the mind and the faster young shooters learn, the better,” he added. Considering the highly competitive field in 10m air rifle, all three Indian shooters were ordinary in the qualification round. Iraq’s Amir Mohamad Nekounam was the last of the eight shooters to advance into the final with a score of 628.4, while Hungary’s star shooter Pete Sidi missed by fraction, his score was 628.3.
MAKENSKIY’S GOLD
In the final, Russia’s Sergey Makenskiy claimed gold, while China’s Liu Yukun got silver and the bronze went to Yukun’s compatriot Hui Zicheng.
Deepak had raised hopes after winning silver at the Asian Games in Jakarta and finishing sixth at the World Championships.
SORE ANKLE
Deepak said he was having a pain above the right ankle and it made things difficult during the match.
“I suffered cramps last night and wasn’t able to balance prop- erly in the morning. I had to shift my weight on the left leg. It was painful and I couldn’t settle into a good rhythm,” he said after scoring 624.3 in the qualification.
“In an event like 10m air rifle an average score of less than 105 points in each of the 10-shot series is considered below par. The qualification round has 60 shots and the final has 24 shots,” said national team coach Manoj Kumar.
“Steady performance is a must to finish in the top eight,” said Manoj.
Ravi Kumar, another leading
NO PLACE IN FINAL
The result, however, wasn’t good enough to fetch a place in final. After the match, Divyansh said his emphasis was to shoot above 10.5. “Focusing on the result affected my technique and overall performance,” he said.
National junior rifle coach and former international Deepali Deshpande said it depends on individuals how he copes up with pressure.
“It becomes more stressful if a shooter tries to do things which are not done in normal routine training. If shooter gets too conscious of winning during a competition, fatigue sets in resulting in poor performance,” she said.