Indian shooting is experiencing a golden run. The country’s rifle and pistol shooters have capped their domination in all four World Cups this year by topping the medal tally yet again, this time in Rio De Janeiro. Coaches and former shooters hailed the show, before the all-important 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
In an unprecedented performance, Indian rifle and pistol shooters besides topping the medal standings of all the four stages of this year’s ISSF World Cup, have collected a whopping 22 medals, and nine Olympic quotas.
On Tuesday, teen stars Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary staged a remarkable comeback to down their country-mates Yashaswini Deswal and Abhishek Verma 17-15 in the final and claim the mixed 10m air pistol gold as the country picked up the maximum possible medals on the final day of the tournament.
World number one in women’s 10m air rifle, Apurvi Chandela, had earlier partnered Deepak Kumar to win India their fourth gold on the concluding day of the event. The pair won the top medal in the mixed air rifle event. Anjum Moudgil and Divyansh Singh Panwar, representing India 2, won bronze as India continued to reach never-before-seen heights in rifle and pistol shooting.
Their final tally from Rio stood at five gold, two silver and two bronze medals for a total of nine. Former India shooter and national junior rifle coach Deepali Deshpande said Indian shooters are now setting the benchmarks for other countries. “It is an amazing result for us, we have been working on it. The best part we still have scope to get better,” Deshpande told DH from Rio.
“It is a result of collective effort. Earlier, say 10 years, ago there used to be one shooter who will do well, it will be a one-hero event. But now everyone is performing consistently. The way we are shooting we are setting the standards for the world shooters. It is just like China some years ago.”
Concurred Olympian and now coach Joydeep Karmakar, who drew parallels with the exploits of the great Indian hockey team of the past. “It is definitely a fantastic moment, not only for shooting, but I feel this historical achievement can be compared to the domination of Indian field hockey of yesteryears. Through shooting, India have shown statistically its domination in an Olympic sport absolutely hands down,” Karmakar said.