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Huge expectations
History was created at the 2010 Delhi games when shooters helped India cross the 100 meal mark for the first time in the history of the Commonwealth Games. The Indian shooting team had won 30 medals which included 14 gold. However, it will be difficult to replicate that success in Glasgow this year. It has nothing to do with the ability of our shooters, but they will compete for just 19 gold medals against 36 in Delhi as the organizers removed several events, mostly the pair competitions.
Abhinav Bindra, the Olympic Gold medallist and World No.1 in Women’s 10 M air pistol Heena Sidhu will be expected to give a phenomenal start to India’s shooting campaign which begins its journey today.
Other Indian shooters in action on day 2 of the competition will be Ravi Kumar (10-m air rifle), Malaika Goel (10-m air pistol), Arti Singh Rao and Mairaj Ahmad Khan -- in women's and men's skeet events, respectively.
The expectations from the shooting squad are sky high as they begin their campaign at the Barry Buddon shooting range.
What makes Indian shooters stand out?
24 year old Heena Sidhu is one of the consistent performers for over a year now. She is high on confidence after achieving the World No. 1 ranking. She registered an historic win at Munich World cup last November.
Sidhu is definitely the favorite in the 10m air pistol event.
Abhinav Bindra will look to improve upon his silver medal finish in Delhi four years ago. The 31-year old finished second to Gagan Narang in front of the home crowd. But this time in the absence of the master, the shooter from Zirakhour will have more chances.
His trophy cabinet has everything an athlete can dream of, but Bindra does not have an individual gold medal in his pet event at the Commonwealth Games.
If he can duplicate the form that got him the top prize in Beijing six years ago, making him the first individual gold medal winner from India in the biggest sporting event, a CWG gold does not look impossible.
The Young army
Malaika Goel, who is just 17 is supported by a non-profit organization Olympic gold quest, is one of the brightest prospects at the games. Her record books are worth looking at.
She beat a world-class field of Indian women pistol shooters, including world cup medal winners Rahi Sarnobat, Heena Sidhu and Annuraj Singh, to win the National 10m air pistol gold medal in December last year.
Apart from that, she has also grabbed a silver medal at the Senor National Championships and backed that up with a silver medal at the Asian Air Gun Championships in China in December 2012. In February 2013, she won the national trials where she beat top senior shooters of the country.
Another lesser known shooter Ravi Kumar of Air force can always take motivation and confidence from his phenomenal win over Bindra in the 10 meter Air Rifle event's qualification round at the National Shooting championship last December.
Ravi Kumar had won both the Kumar Surendra Singh championship and the Sardar Sajjan Singh Sethi Masters gold medals earlier that season in 2013.
Former national champion Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Arti Singh Rao will also be keen to impress in their respective skeet events.
