Abhinav Bindra, 33
Air rifle event
Time: 5:30pm
Medal prospects: Very bright
Bindra’s innocuous tweet 15 days ago that he would be incommunicado with the outside world till his fifth and last Olympics campaign begins sums up the mood in the shooting camp. The Beijing gold medalist will perhaps be in his last and fifth Summer Games and he would like to bow out on a high.
The 33-year-old has won Gold in 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games and also has a Gold in the ISSF World Shooting Championships 2006, Zagreb, in the 10m air rifle event.
Four years after setting up the gold standard in Beijing, Bindra crashed to a 16th place finish in 2012 london, but this time the shooter from Zirakpur, who is known to pay minute attention to details, has created Rio-like settings at his home.
Bindra, who is the country’s first individual Gold medallist, will look to add another medal to his kitty.
Gagan Narang, 33
10m air rifle event
Time: 5:30pm
Medal prospects: Good
Gagan has bagged a rich haul of medals in the Commonwealth Games — eight gold medals and a silver and a bronze. After missing the Final in the 2008, Beijing Olympics, Narang made up for it, winning a bronze in the 10m air rifle event in the 2012 Olympics, london.
The 33-year-old will be participating in his fourth Olympics and will no doubt be one of the senior members in the Indian contingent. He will be participating in 10m air rifle event, 50m rifle prone and 50m rifle 3 positions event. After Monday’s event, he will next play in Rio on 12th and 14th this month and will hope to add a medal in one of those days.