Only Indian shooter to win medals in all international competitions retires
Abhinav Bindra was the star of the day. Not that he won’t be a star tomorrow – after all, he is India’s only Olympic individual gold medalist – but Tuesday was different. It was his last day as a professional shooter. And his last chance to win the elusive Asian Games individual medal. He had to deliver.
And he did, like so many times in his glorious 20-year-long career. First, he lifted his team comprising Sanjeev Rajput and Ravi Kumar to third position and helped secure a team bronze with his individual score of 625.4, which also helped him qualify for the individual finals. Then, he held his nerve in excruciatingly pressure situation to avoid elimination, though with some luck, and win a bronze in the 10 metre air rifle event of the 17th Asian Games at the Ongnyeon International Shooting Range here.
The competition was very tough with all the three Chinese topping the qualification round with excellent scores. The presence of two Koreans further increased the difficulty level. Iranian Norouziyan Pourya punched well above his weight to make it a four-pronged battle for Asiad glory.
Someone who reaches the final of a multi-nation event doesn’t need a certificate to prove his technical abilities. But in the final, it is a battle of nerve more than the technique.
The 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medalist Bindra was in contention for gold from the word go. He was hitting in the excess of 10 consistently that is a basic requirement in 10m air rifle; one can’t go below 10 if he harbours any hope of winning a medal. Anything below 10 is a bad shot. As the final progressed and pressure increased, Bindra waivered twice and it almost cost him the medal.
The first below-10 shot came in the second series of three and affected his standing but the second bad that – in the 12th series, a 9.6 – almost sent him out. Fortunately, the Pourya of Iran buckled under pressure and hit a 9.6 in the elimination round. Bindra, however, lifted his game up and hit two brilliant shots of 10.3 and 10.5 to avoid elimination.
It secured him a bronze. For silver, he needed another round of luck but Chinese were too good in their trade to give Bindra any chance. They had already taken a good lead over others and by the time the final reached its penultimate stage, the Chinese were competing with each other. Even Bindra’s best series of shots that fetched him 21.3 points (10.6 and 10.7) couldn’t help him progress further and had to accept the bronze.
It was India’s sixth medal in shooters in these Games, comprising one gold and five bronze. So far men’s pistol shooter Jitu Rai is the only gold medal winner of India.