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500 shooters, 60 nations, 14 Olympic quota up for grabs - The stage was set for the ISSF World Cup at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, New Delhi, India. The event lived up to its hype as shooting of exemplary class and calibre was on display throughout the 5 days - 23rd Feb to 27th Feb. Indian contingent didn’t disappoint either - bagging 3 gold medals and sharing the 1st position with Hungary on the medal tally.
Apurvi Chandela was the talk of the town on the first day, opening India’s medal account by clinching gold in women's 10-metre air rifle event. And to do so with a new world record score to her name, makes the victory even more sweeter.
She finished fourth in the qualification round - diminishing medal hopes to a substantial extent for any shooter. The start to the final wasn’t ideal too, the 3 Chinese shooters leading the way as her first shot bore an low score of 10.1. That’s when years of hard earned experience and maturity comes into play. Intense would rather be a mild word to describe the final - enthralling all the viewers. With each shot, her scores started to scale up such that 1.1 was the differentiating factor from the eventual silver medallist ZHAO Ruozhu. In the post match interview, she admitted that the Munich WC last year, was rightly a tonic of bitter taste - a freak shot of 5.8 ended her medal aspirations last time. Well done Apurvi!
Saurabh Chaudhary
No praise is high enough for this young lad. Specialising in 10-metre air pistol, he gifted India its second gold with an astounding score of 245 to shatter all records (the previous best - 243.6). Competing with contenders of almost twice his age is a daunting task itself. But with the pistol in hand, he personifies zen-like composure and calmness. Pairing up with another teen sensation - Manu Bhaker, the duo shot like world-beaters to claim India’s third gold on the ultimate day.
As far as other notable shooters are concerned, Asian Games winner - Rahi Sarnobat couldn’t deliver the goods as she finished at the 15th position in qualification round of 25-metre Pistol. Heena Sidhu had a horrendous campaign for her failure to qualify in both 10-metre events (Individual and Mixed). The pair of Ravi Kumar and Anjum Moudgil missed the finals by a whisker - 0.2.
This is the beauty of shooting - you cannot take even a single shot for granted. And lo and behold, Manu couldn’t even make it to the finals of her pet event - 10-metre air pistol. These shooters will definitely look to redeem themselves before the Beijing WC- next month and book their tickets for the ultimate glory - Tokyo 2020.
Jaspal Rana, the trailblazer of Indian shooting scene, was extremely straightforward in his assessment - Spatial orientation is need of the hour. This attribute can only be strengthened by replicating match like situations in practice. It is a phase of transition for our young shooters - from age group level to senior level. The importance of mental conditioning is inexplicable - The sport drains you out physically, psychologically and emotionally. The World Cup has unquestionably rekindled the interest of Indians in shooting. Fingers crossed, the future looks promising!
