More a mismatch than equality
World shooting body’s decision to expand women’s competition will further erode sport’s popularity
Shooting has seen a dwindling audience despite its huge potential to amass medals at the biggest stage, Olympics. So, the International Shooting Sports Federation’s (ISSF) decision to increase the number of shots in women’s events has come as a surprise. Many in the shooting fraternity are terming it a regressive step.
As per the new rules, the number of shots for women’s competitors has gone up from 40 to 60 – as in men’s event -- to qualify for the finals in 10m air rifle and air pistol. In rifle 3-position, it has been doubled to 120, while in trap and skeet it has gone from 75 to 125 shots. The ISSF has made these changes in line with the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) goal of bringing about gender equality in sports. But this change will make shooting more time consuming. The new rules will prolong the already energysapping competition. This will keep fans from the ranges.
In this age of T20 cricket, where even ODIs look too long, increasing the shots will make it look like a Test match!
What did IOC really mean by gender equality? Did it mean more women’s participation at the Olympics or making women’s events as challenging as men’s. Last year, when the ISSF axed the men’s double trap, 50m rifle prone and 50m pistol from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, it received flak from the biggest names in world shooting. The move was to raise women’s Olympics participation to 50 per cent by Tokyo 2020. Double trap -- hugely popular in India -- was replaced by trap mixed team, while 10m air rifle mixed team replaced 50m rifle prone. The men’s 50m pistol event was replaced by 10m air pistol mixed team.
When three events have been added for women, what was the need to change the qualification formats for women two years before the Olympics? Ideally, such changes should happen after the Games.
Reducing the number of shots from 60 to 40 for men would have levelled the field, made it exciting and ensured faster qualification. The Bundesliga in Germany, the world’s top shooting league, has a 40-shot format in air rifle and the best in the world compete there. Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang have taken part there.
The biggest challenge for shooting is to make it spectator friendly. I have shot at the World Cup and international competitions. Apart from the shooters, coaches and team officials, hardly anyone else is interested to watch. The Karni Singh Ranges in Delhi during the 2010 Commonwealth Games saw poor audience. In the ISSF World Cup Finals in 2017, there were absolutely no spectators.
After the 2012 London Olympics, ISSF had made all finals longer. Though the elimination format has made it more interesting, it has made the finals longer. Extending the qualification phase for women only adds to it.
Earlier, it took 50 minutes to finish a 40-shot match. Now, it will take 75 minutes.
Since the 2012 Olympics, shooters don’t carry forward qualification scores into the finals. So, it doesn’t matter whether qualification shots are 40 or 60. Fewer shots would also help save on ammunition and targets. The worst hit is the women’s 3-position event where competitors will have to shoot double of what they have done.
The duration goes up from 75 minutes to 2 hours, 45 minutes, and will test a shooter’s stamina. One wonders if it’s shooting or a marathon race!