Asian Games 2023 Editorial Shooting

Indian shooting makes a comeback with Esha’s silver bullet

September 27, 2023
<a href="https://revsportz.in/author/boria/" rel="author" class="url fn n" itemprop="url"><img alt='' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/e660b408ca5a915f1c718d0cd98a879b?s=32&d=mm&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/e660b408ca5a915f1c718d0cd98a879b?s=64&d=mm&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-32 photo' height='32' width='32' decoding='async'/> <span class="" itemprop="name">Boria Majumdar</span></a>

Esha Singh is the toast of the nation. And so is the Indian shooting contingent. They are scripting a comeback for the sport. Delivering under pressure, coming back from bad situations and finishing on the podium — they are doing it all.

Esha’s silver medal in Hangzhou was proof of that.

It was Rajyavardhan Rathore’s silver medal in Athens in 2004 that started it all.

India’s first Olympic medal in shooting, and all of a sudden, there was growing interest in the sport. Samresh Jung, Gagan Narang added to it at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and when Abhinav Bindra hit the Holy Grail in 2008, interest peaked.

 

Bindra became the toast of the nation and shooting India’s most successful Olympic sport. The 2010 CWG added gloss to everything, and when Narang added an Olympic medal in London in 2012, there was a real high surrounding it. Vijay Kumar’s silver was unexpected. When such things happen, they bring about certain euphoria.

Ahead of the Rio Olympics in 2016, shooting was expected to deliver yet again. Jitu Rai was in sensational form. He had trained for months and won every competition there was to win.

Jitu made the finals on Day 1 but that’s when the slide started. He failed and it was a moment which told you Indian shooting got jinxed. Bindra lost a shootout and decided to call it a day. Narang wasn’t at his best and none of the young shooters stood up.

In short, Rio was a disaster. A committee was set up by Raninder Singh, the then NRAI boss, to probe the debacle and after a detailed review, correctives were put in place. With a strong junior programme under Jaspal Rana, Suma Shirur and Deepali Deshpande, things started to look up. Going to Tokyo in 2021, each one of us expected medals from Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker. Saurabh was in red hot form. He was expected to lead the campaign.

 

He started brilliantly and made the final on the first day of the competition. But that’s when things changed. A ‘47 first series’ in the final and Saurabh lost nerve. With him, the Indian team did that too. Each day, we would turn up at the Asahi Shooting Range and each day, we would go back empty handed.

To add to our woes, Manu’s gun malfunctioned. She missed the final by 2 points and Ronak Pandit, her coach then, was distraught. It was an opportunity lost. Manu was trolled and abused on social media and her confidence took a serious beating.

Post Tokyo, Indian shooting had an uphill task. It needed to make a comeback and more importantly, win back the confidence of the fans and analysts. While our shooters would win World Cup medals, the big stage wasn’t theirs yet.

Administrative issues also plagued the sport and Raninder had to give way to Kalikesh Singh Deo, who is currently the acting head of the NRAI. Coaches were sacked and news came out that not all was well in Indian shooting.

 

Such things happen when the going is tough. When I met Kalikesh in Bhubaneshwar two months back, he was cautiously optimistic. The team was sent to Paris to train and get used to the range that will be used for the Olympics in 2024.

While it was a good move, the immediate focus had to be the World Championships in Baku and the number of Olympic quotas India could secure. Rudra Patil had already sealed one in October 2022. Bhownish Mendiratta had added to the number. India needed a few more and in Baku they could judge themselves against the best.

To be fair, four quotas weren’t bad. Mehuli Ghosh, Samra Kaur, Akhil Sheoran and Ria Kumari made it seven for India in total and all of a sudden, there was a glimmer of hope. It seemed India will get past the 15 from Tokyo and while the Chinese remain the powerhouse, we could just about challenge them. The Asian Games, in the Chinese backyard, was expected to give us some answers. If the Indians delivered, it could give us hope for Paris. Make us feel the sport is back on the right track. And if they did not, it could be all doom and gloom.

 

The Indians have delivered in China and how! While team medals aren’t there in Paris, the scores they have notched up are an index. In the 10m air rifle event for example, Rudra and Aishwary Tomar were superb in qualifying. Mehuli and Ramita were as good in the women’s. And finally today, Samra Kaur exceeded expectations with a world record score in winning the women’s 3 position gold.

The women’s pistol contingent added to the medal tally, but what was more important was Manu shooting a 590 and Esha a very good 586. Rhythm, who holds the record with 595, scored 583. That’s what it is all about. Multiple shooters of quality for only then you have a real chance of winning multiple Olympic medals in Paris.

Asian Games, it can be argued, has brought Indian shooting back on track. The scores are an indication. Even if we leave aside the team medals, the individual medals are evidence that the Indians can now compete. Soak in the pressure and deliver. That’s what will matter in Paris. And we seem to be on course.

Also Read: Manu Bhaker wins the mental battle

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