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While India might have returned from the Tokyo Olympics with its largest medal haul yet, shooter Abhishek Verma was left contemplating over what could've been.
Going into the competition, the now 34-year-old was one of the favorites to finish on top of the podium in the men's 10m air pistol event but ended up finishing with one of the worst scores in his career.
After that fateful outing at the Asaka Shooting Range, Abhishek Verma decided to take a minute to reflect and make some major changes to his game. The Indian has now set his sights on the Paris Olympics, hoping to put on a better show than he managed last time.
“My focus is on Paris. After Tokyo, I took a break in 2022 and then I started from scratch. I changed my weapon, technique, everything. In Tokyo, I shot my lowest score in a long time and I wanted to experiment and innovate to improve for Paris,” Verma told Hindustan Times.
"I decided to train myself. Though I did look for a mentor in India and outside, foreign coaches are very costly. I am not in TOPS anymore, so it is difficult," he added.
For Abhishek, the support dwindled after Tokyo, and the World Cup gold medalist hopes that the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) can make some changes for the upcoming generation of shooters.
"One thing NRAI could look to do is to let some of top shooters some leeway after major events for introspection, exempt them from a few trials and allow them to avail the services of the foreign coaches even when they are not part of the team."
As of now, Verma will be training with NRAI high-performance director Pierre Beauchamp for a few sessions ahead of the Olympic qualifiers in January.
Indian air pistol shooters struggle to meet the mark for Paris
While Indian shooters have put up strong performances in recent years, the members of the air pistol team have been struggling with consistency on the international scene.
Of the four Olympic quotas up for grabs in the event, only one berth has been booked for India so far. With just two qualifier tournaments left to go, it remains to be seen if India can claim all of them.
Beauchamp had reportedly called a meeting after India's somewhat dismal performance at the World Cup in March, questioning the air pistol shooter's form.
"He [Beauchamp] wanted certain changes in the coaching set-up. He thought the top shooters were not getting enough rest and recovery time and it was adding to the pressure and that a plan was needed to be in place for better management of their training and competition schedule," NRAI officials in the know told the Hindustan Times.
Whether these changes are brought around in enough time to ensure a robust performance for Indian air pistol shooters in Paris remains to be seen.
