Vijayveer Sidhu sealed the 17th shooting quota place for India at the Paris Olympics by entering the 25m rapid-fire pistol final at the Asian qualifiers in Jakarta on Saturday. His score of 577 may not be very high – and he finished fifth in qualifying – but he sealed an important slot for India. The quota he earned meant that India would field two shooters in the rapid-fire competition.
Indian shooting has soared in the last year phenomenally. The rich medal haul of 22 at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China in September-October was run down by the uncharitable since there were team events as well. But the men and women have continued to improve. They deserve credit for the sheer variety and for staying focused.
The way shooters have been upping their performance speaks volumes about their hard work. Esha Singh, Rhythm Sangwan and now Vijayveer Sidhu have ensured that Jakarta is a happy hunting ground.
“Of course, it is a great performance and I believe more (quotas) can come,” Abhinav Bindra, the 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medallist told RevSportz on Saturday. Even though he had taken on the pro bono mentorship role for the Indian shooters till the Paris Olympics, he downplayed his own contribution. He is speaking to some of the shooters but feels the real thing is to win medals in Paris.
Indeed, the big picture is how the shooters will fare in the Olympics. “I think what needs to be appreciated is how the younger shooters are fully focused and mentally strong. There is no fear factor, they go out and compete with gusto,” said Moraad Ali Khan, a former trap and double trap shooter who is part of the NRAI think-tank.
“I think if the gun licence policy eases up further, India will have more shooters coming up on the world stage,” he added.
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There are a lot of bad memories for India from the last two Olympic Games, in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020, held after a postponement in 2021 under the Covid lockdown. What happened in Tokyo was bizarre, the flop show leading to massive criticism. After all, a month-long camp in Croatia before the Tokyo Olympics had become meaningless as there was no seriousness.
Today, the Indians are truly world-class, as far as number of shooters qualifying is concerned. The Indians are not like the Chinese, who are almost mechanical. They shoot a crazy number of shots each day. In comparison, the Indians are more conservative and preserve themselves well, mindful of not becoming weary.
To say that the Indian shooters are as good as the Chinese, Koreans and others would be premature. Yes, India can win a few more quota places. There is an event in Rio in April, where one more quota can come in women’s air pistols. Next month, the shotgun shooters will be competing in a qualifying event where someone like Manavjit Sandhu will be there. He has been competing for India for over 25 years which goes to show age is just a number in this sport.
It’s easy to think that all is good at this point in time. The challenge will be to stay calm and composed, for there are two trials at home in the summer which will decide which shooters make the cut and board the flight to Paris. A new qualification matrix is in place, where the two trials, averages plus those who won the quota place for India will be getting a weightage point.
The number of shooters competing in the trials plus how they handle the pressure will be important. This time, the challenge is to push the shooters so hard that only the best will make the final cut. It may sound very harsh but a change was needed. For example, Bhowneesh Mendiratta winning a trap quota years ago does not make him an obvious choice. He will have to rub shoulders with a few more at the trials and go flat out. This has never happened before.
The Indian shooting philosophy today is to take nothing for granted.
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