On target: On the Olympics and Indian shooters
Indian shooters lived up to expectations in Paris Olympics
Ever since Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won the silver medal in the men’s double trap shooting at the Athens Olympics in 2004, Indian shooters have always dealt with the pressure of expectations. The stress quadrupled when Abhinav Bindra won the gold in the 10m air rifle category in the 2008 Beijing Games. This success was replicated in the 2012 London Games with Gagan Narang winning the bronze in the 10m air rifle shooting while Vijay Kumar did one better, seizing the silver in the 25m rapid fire pistol competition. And then followed the inexplicable drought in shooting during the subsequent editions at Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. Cut to the latest Paris Games, where all doubts pertaining to whether the shooters would hit bullseye were emphatically laid to rest as 22-year-old Manu Bhaker became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal in shooting. It was also Manu’s turn to exorcise the ghosts of the past as in the previous Tokyo Games she faltered as an equipment malfunction affected her performance. First up, Manu claimed the bronze in the 10m air pistol. Later she combined with Sarabjot Singh to win another bronze in the mixed 10m air pistol segment. A hat-trick though proved elusive as she finished fourth in the 25m pistol final.
Manu’s success is a testimony to the rapid strides that Indian shooting has made besides being a tribute to an efficient system that the sporting fraternity has established. Manu is following the path that predecessors Anjali Bhagwat and Suma Shirur, presently a head coach too, had carved. Those were days when funds were meagre and, at times, awkward questions were asked about carrying firearms at airports as the knowledge of shooting as a sport was low. Anjali and Suma did not win an Olympics medal but they inspired their juniors to follow the sport with passion. Manu linking up with her former coach Jaspal Rana, an ace shooter himself, helped add a new dimension. Shooting demands still hands, a sharp eye and a zen mind, and finally Manu revealed that she was in the zone while aiming at the target. Her traits were evident in Swapnil Kusale too as he won bronze in the men’s 50m rifle three positions event. Equally, Arjun Babuta’s fourth-place finish in the men’s 10m air rifle final was a pointer to shooting’s razor thin margins that split ecstasy and agony. There was more grief too in archery, as India continued to fail at the Olympics with Deepika Kumari and company often stumbling at the business end.