For several years now, shooting, as a discipline at the multi-sport events like Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, has contributed a major chunk of medals. Yet the government and the federation have seldom failed to disappoint the shooters.
This time the National Rifle Association of India’s (NRAI) lethargy has cost shooters precious practice time and caused unnecessary distraction.
The NRAI’s failure to send the entries for the 17th Asian Games on time resulted in Games organisers delaying the accreditation cards of the Indian shooters, including Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, who also won 10m air pistol gold at the recently held Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
Bindra, who has already retired from CWG planned to fly in directly from the World Championships in Grenada, Spain a bit early to have enough time to rest and acclimatise properly for his last Asian Games appearance. He doesn’t have a gold medal in these Games.
In fact, most of the shooters were off the mark in the recent World Championships and badly needed some practice before their events at the Asian Games start at the Ongnyeon International Range on Saturday and will go on till September 30.
The shooting events start on Saturday with women’s 10m air pistol and men’s 50m pistol.
Thirty four countries are in fray for a total of 44 medals in the individual and team competitions. In fact, shooting will be giving the 17th Asian Games its first medalist.
India got eight medals — one gold through Ronjan Sodhi in men’s double trap, three silver medals and four bronze — in the last Games at Guangzhou. Owing to their poor form and administrative blunders in going into the Incheon Games, it looks difficult for them to even match the numbers from the last Games.
Since Guangzhou, Sodhi’s form has gone haywire as he was unable to qualify through the shooting trials. The biggest hope for India is Jitu Rai, the current world number one in 10m air pistol and a gold medal winner in 50m free pistol at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. He also became the first Indian to secure a place for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
“Asian Games is a huge multi-sport extravaganza and I would like to do well there, win a medal and bring laurels to the country. The competition is going to be high but I am pretty confident of finishing on the podium and continue the momentum,” Jitu had said before leaving for Incheon.
In current form, Jitu is perhaps a bigger medal hope than Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang.
In the women’s event, Heena Sidhu will have to shoulder the major responsibility for bringing medals but the experienced Shweta Chaudhary and the 16-year-old Malaika Goel, who won silver medal at the Glasgow CWG, can’t be ignored.