India’s hopes of medals at the Rio Olympics will rest greatly on the shooting talents that will be representing the country. The contingent includes Beijing Gold Medalist Abhinav Bindra and London Bronze medalist Gagan Narang apart from former World number one Heena Sidhu, apart from some bright young talents like Apurvi Chandela and Ayonika Paul.
However, champions that these shooters are, they will be up against the best of the world on the grandest stage at Rio. Even though India’s medal hopes are bright, some of them might not materialise in front of the great names of the shooting world, who too will leave no stone unturned to stamp their authority and assert their greatness on the Olympic stage. Let’s take a look at some of the names who are well and truly capable of raining on India’s parade in Olympics
1) Jin Jong-oh
India’s Jitu Rai is a pocket dynamite and his climb to the top of rankings in 10m air pistol in 2014 after his spectacular run in the World Cup in Munich is a testimony to the punch this Indian shooter of Nepalese origin packs.
But he will be up against another of his kind when he goes to Rio and aims for that elusive Gold. Jin Jong-oh is a triple Olympic champion and one of the most successful individual shooters at the Olympics. He also holds the world record in 10m air pistol event.
But going into Rio, it’s Jitu Rai who holds the aces as he pipped Jong-oh to clinch the silver medal in the World Cup held at Baku, which incidentally was the last shooting competition before the Olympics. Rai, though, will be wary of Jin Jong-oh and would know that repeat of Baku heroics would be difficult in front of the London Olympics Gold Medalist.
2) Olena Kostevych
The pistol shooter from Ukraine made heads turn at the early age of 17 when she won the 10m Air Pistol event at the 2002 ISSF World Shooting Championships. Her good run extended up to the 2004 Olympics where she bagged the Gold in 10m air pistol. Kostevych’s form declined in the later years though she made a comeback of sorts at the London Olympics of 2012 where she won two Bronze medals, one in 10m air pistol and another in 25m pistol.
At 31, Kostevych doesn’t have a lot of time in her shooting career and her appearance in the next Olympics remain shrouded in question marks. That’s why the Ukrainian will pose a threat to the chances of Heena Sidhu, who hasn’t enjoyed the best of forms going into the Olympics.
But Sidhu will take heart from the fact when she won the gold medal at the ISSF World Cup Finals in Munich, Germany in 2013 and Kostevych was one of the shooters she got the better of.
3) Filip Nepejchal
He may be just 16 but one look at Nepejchal makes it clear that the shooter from Czech Republic has determination, concentration and maturity beyond his age. And India’s Gagan Narang would surely not take the teenager lightly during the 10m Air Rifle competition.
In the World Cup held at Baku in June, the teen prodigy went on to win the gold medal with a total score of 206.8 points. In the same competition, Narang shot 123.1 to finish sixth while Beijing Gold medalist Abhinav Bindra shot 102.3 to finish seventh.
Buoyed by his success at Baku, Nepejchal will look to emulate his feat and can prove to be the killjoy India don’t want, especially in front of their favorite Gagan Narang, who remains one of the country’s best medal hopes in Rio.
4) Aleksey Alipov
The Russian trap shooter will be looking to clinch his second Olympic Gold in trap shooting, 12 years after he achieved the feat in Athens Olympics. His Olympics graph has declined since then as he won a Bronze in Beijing and returned empty handed from London.
But the Russian showed signs of his greatness in the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Final in Nicosia last October where he won bronze after winning a titanic shoot-off with Italy's Massimo Fabbrizi after both men concluded the regular round with 15 hits out of 15 targets.
Alipov had a similarly flawless final round when he won the Gold in Athens in which he was on target with all 25 shots to finish with an overall score of 149 out of 150.
On his day. Alipov could make life difficult for his competitors and one of his competitors will be Manavjeet Singh Sandhu of India. Sandhu ranks 39th currently and will have his task cut out against a 5th ranked Alipov.
5) Yi Siling
After her win at the 2012 Olympics, Yi Siling of China would be itching to win consecutive Gold Medals in the 10m air rifle. And given China’s dominance in shooting events over the last couple of Olympics, Siling would know she is in with a great chance and might just even go to defend her Gold.
Siling, however, is expected to face a tough challenge from a young Indian by the name of Apurvi Chandela, who has been making waves on the shooting circuit for quite some time now.
In fact, in the Swedish Cup Grand Prix in Savsjo last year, Chandela won herself a gold medal with a world record score of 211.2 that surpassed the feat of Siling (211).
However, with her experience and intense training that the Chinese go through year after year to be at their best in Olympics, Siling is undisputably the bigger name on paper and can crush billions of hopes that rest on Chandela’s performance.
