Paris Olympics | Will the ‘nucleus of Indian sports’ live up to its title?
Eyeing a medal: India will look to begin well with Sandeep, Ramita, Arjun and Elavenil in the air rifle event.
| Photo Credit: FARUQUI AM
The health of Indian sports will largely depend on the contribution of Olympic medals by the shooters in the Paris Games.
It may sound ironical that a sport that has brought nought from the last two Games in Rio and Tokyo, finds itself as the nucleus of Indian sports.
There will be 21 shooters, the best from any country including China, competing for 27 medals. Can quality come from quantity? Can there be another gold medal from shooting, the way Abhinav Bindra won by asserting his mastery in air rifle in the Beijing Games in 2008.
Bindra was building on the strong foundation laid by Rajyavardhan Rathore with the silver medal in double trap in the Athens Games in 2004.
Double trap does not figure any more in the Olympic program, but Vijay Kumar and Gagan Narang had sustained the legacy by winning the silver in rapid fire pistol and bronze in air rifle in the London Games in 2012.
Indian shooting will look to air rifle shooters Sandeep Singh, Arjun Babuta, Elavenil Valarivan and Ramita Jindal to deliver the first medal, as the schedule starts with mixed air rifle on July 27.
The air pistol qualification will also be on the opening day, but this time all finals are scheduled on the day after qualification.
It means a strong qualification will not not drain shooters and stop them from being at their best in the finals that start with their scores on zero.
The fact that some of the best shooters have not been able to confirm their place in the Indian team, despite having won the Olympic quota against stiff competition, should provide a hint about the depth of Indian shooting.
That was proven with rich haul at the last Asian Games in Hangzhou. Whether that can be asserted yet again on the Olympic stage, when the whole world is at its sharpest, remains to be seen.
India will be competing in every event in pistol, rifle and shotgun. It means there is hope right through till August 5. Hopefully, young guns Anish Bhanwala and Vijjayveer Sidhu will be able to provide a fitting climax in rapid fire pistol for Indian shooting in Paris. Like Rathore did by winning an Olympic medal on debut, Sandeep Singh may do it in air rifle, as he replaced the world champion Rudrankksh Patil in the team. If you have lived on the Siachen glacier, the way the army jawan has done for six months, competing in the Olympics should be a walk in the park.
Indian shooting has the potential to take Indian sport to the next level in the Olympics in Paris. Let us just sit back and enjoy the firing!
The shooting squad: Men: Sandeep Singh, Arjun Babuta (10m air rifle), Aishwary Tomar, Swapnil Kusale (50m rifle 3-position), Sarabjot Singh, Arjun Cheema (10m air pistol), Anish Bhanwal, Vijayveer Sidhu (25m rapid fire pistol), Prithviraj Tondaiman (trap), Anantjeet Singh Naruka (skeet and skeet mixed team).
Women: Elavenil Valarivan, Ramita Jindal (10m air rifle), Sift Kaur Samra, Anjum Moudgil (50m rifle 3-position), Rhythm Sangwan (10m air pistol), Manu Bhaker (10m air pistol and 25m pistol), Esha Singh (25m pistol), Rajeshwari Kumari, Shreyasi Singh (trap), Maheshwari Chauhan (skeet and skeet mixed team), Raiza Dhillon (skeet).
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