India stands on top of the medal tally in the ongoing ISSF Junior World Championships in Lima, Peru, with 10. This is bound to go up and the eventual haul may look even more healthy. In the past, as well, the junior Indian shooters have come through this competition but graduating to the next level has been a challenge.
There have been many cases of talented shooters falling by the wayside in the last three years. The names of Chinki Yadav, Saurabh Chaudhary and even Palak Gulia will ring bells. Chinki had made the cut for the Tokyo Olympics but the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) selection committee felt she did not deserve to board the flight. What happened to Chinki after that is almost unknown, though at 26, she is still young. The daughter of an electrician in Bhopal, her story hurts as she has been forgotten.
The same goes for Chaudhary, a pistol prodigy who collapsed under pressure in Tokyo. It was assumed that Saurabh and Manu Bhaker would definitely win the air pistol mixed team gold medal in Tokyo. Since that failure, Chaudhary has been ignored, something that reflects badly on the entire shooting fraternity. He did bounce back in April/May 2024, but needs to be hand-held, nurtured and guided again.
At the Paris Olympics, Manu was asked who was the most talented shooter. Her reply was instant: Saurabh Chaudhary. That showed massive respect and was an acknowledgement that Indian shooting must go back and find these champions again. As Kalikesh Singh Deo, President of the NRAI, said in an interview on Monday, the grassroot programme is important and the net will be cast wide to find others like Chaudhary, whose ice-cool temperament caught the eye.
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One can also cite the case of Palak, the last to make the cut for the Paris Olympics, but who was unable to cope with the pressure of the Olympic Selection Trials where the level of competition was so intense, Once the new season begins, however, one will again hear forgotten names as well as the new ones. “This generation of shooters is fearless, there is no pressure,” Gagan Narang told this writer last month. “They want to win gold, not just medals.”
Narang runs various academies under his “Gun For Glory” scheme. There are many more academies as well doing good work. Joydeep Karmakar is at the forefront in rifle coaching, while Anjali Bhagwat and Jaspal Rana also run their centres. Contrary to the perception that Rana has mentored only Manu in the last 16 months, he has been working with juniors in New Delhi and Dehradun. He just prefers not to talk about it. Singh Deo praised his contribution to the junior development programme, something which the NRAI wants to restart. For the record, Devanshi Rana, Jaspal’s daughter, has also returned to training, and what she does in the next cycle will be watched with interest.
“I would think if you can find talented shooters at the age of 14, then they will need six years to mature,” Rana told RevSportz on Tuesday. “That is how the junior development programme was run when I was assigned that job by the NRAI. For me to get back to any full-time coaching assignment, I am open to it, but not just at the junior level.”
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Not many would know that he is already working as mentor with two elite shooters who were part of India’s campaign at Paris 2024. “I am not going to talk of shooters who have come to me just a month back,” said Rana. “Let them produce results and talk, not me. I mean, I have spoken on Saurabh Chaudhary as well. He definitely has talent.”
He also offered a note of caution. “We need to have coaches who have themselves done well in the Nationals,” said Rana. “That’s the only way a coach can guide juniors and make the transition to seniors.” His reference was to juniors who do well in the World Championships and then fade away.
India cannot adopt a one-size-fits-all coaching model. At the junior level, a structured programme is needed at the state level, before the best graduate to the Nationals. If one goes by results achieved in shooting at the last Asian Games, there is plenty of talent. At the same time, when the Mavalankar Championship and the Nationals are next held, new shooters will emerge. They need to be groomed. Soaking in pressure at the trials and competing in the international arena are very different.
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Ronjan Sodhi, an extremely talented shooter who is chipping in at the Manav Rachna University in Faridabad, spoke on how age is not a factor in shotgun events. “I mean, if you ask me, someone like Maheshwari Chauhan has age on her side,” said Sodhi. “She can go for LA 2028. She is just 28. In shotgun, one can go on till the 40s.”
Though not a full-time coach, Sodhi is very sharp and was also in Chateauroux to watch the Olympic shooting events. “People think I am controversial,” he said, his laugh evident over the phone. “But I speak the truth.”
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