S.Kannan in Chateauroux
The curse of the fourth-place finish returned to haunt Indian shooters as Maheshwari Chauhan and Anant Jeet Singh Naruka lost a climactic tie-break 43-44 against China’s Jiang Yiting and Lyu Jianlin in the mixed skeet bronze medal playoff on Monday at the Paris 2024 Olympics. All day long, the Indian pair had shot with feel and fluency against the rest in a world class field. To make it to the bronze playoff was in itself history being created.
After a two-hour break, when Maheshwari and Anant came out for a crucial contest, the sun was blazing. Wearing ‘shades’ to cut the glare, the Indians began well and matched the Chinese. To say fans enjoyed it every bit would be stating the obvious as they cheered and shouted. This kind of aggressive shooting, where they were “killing” the orange clay birds was high adrenaline. It finally came down to the wire, where the Chinese showed ice cool nerves to win the bronze.
“This is heart-break, a fourth-place finish,” Maheshwari Chauhan told RevSportz. On Sunday, she had failed to make the top six and was in tears after her individual skeet event. She had to be consoled by her coach, an Italian, Riccardo Filipelli. Credit must be given to him for ensuring she was composed on Monday after the meltdown a day ahead. He was cheering the Indians from a distance. Yet, in the end, the Chinese showed they were so tough, on the final shooting station, they got maximum points.
“We had prepared very hard for the Olympics. Both Anant and I are from Rajasthan, we like to finish on the podium, not come fourth. This is gut wrenching and we will bounce back for LA 2028,” she said. “It was so close and a one-point loss is hard to digest. We had slogged for this Olympics and cannot stop here,” said Anant, wiping his sweat.
Speaking about her journey, Maheshwari Chauhan said this is her first experience of the Olympics. “We will carry rich experience from these Olympics,” she said. She was not chosen for the Asian Games last year and it hurt her. Now, the determination is even more fierce. “When I made the qualification just three months before Paris 2024, I was delighted. Having slogged for 12 years, this was a dream come true,” said the seasoned shooter.
Coach Filipelli was shaking his head after the last point loss. “This is so hard on the shooters, both Maheshwari and Anant worked hard. They are very talented,” said the Italian, who has been hired as a private coach.
NRAI senior vice president Kalikesh Singh Deo said the performance of Indian shooters, especially in shotgun is worth praise. “When was the last time we ever had Indians in shotgun finals,” was his remark.