Indian team eye more Olympic quota places

New Delhi: The Indian shooting team will have a 10-day training camp in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany to acclimatise and focus on their techniques ahead of the ISSF Munich World Cup, starting on May 24.

The team will be leaving during the early hours of Sunday with the focus on adding to their five quota places for the Tokyo Olympics. “It's very hot here (in Delhi), we can only train couple of hours in the morning. We want our shooters to get used to the environment for the next World Cup. The focus is on winning quotas, and those who have already got them, they will be working on improving their scores and system,” Samresh Jung, chief coach of senior pistol team, told DH.

“When the shooters are out of the country, it is easier for them to focus.”

India have already won two quotas in the men's 10m air pistol through Saurabh Chaudhary and Abhishek Verma in the first two World Cups in New Delhi and Beijing.
In Germany, Jung said the focus would be on technique and dealing with the pressure.”They know how to shoot. Now they have to just manage the pressure, and how to handle it in a match.”

The performance of women pistol shooters have been a matter of concern. Both Heena Sidhu and Manu Bhaker have struggled. Jung, however, felt it was a temporary phase.

“I am pretty hopeful that by the end of this year they will be back. It's not their technique, but more about how to manage their rhythm, and time under pressure. Because pressure increases more as you go towards the end of quotas."
"This would be Heena's third Olympics. It doesn't become easy. When you are in your 8th or 9th Olympics, it might.”

As for Manu, Samresh felt the young shooter needs to analyse her performance. "She is positive, very aggressive, which I think is good. But sometimes you need to rein in that aggression, not be over aggressive.

“It is nothing to do with her technique but personality. She is disappointed because she knows she can win but is missing out. I was talking to her in Beijing and she said 'oh for me it did not happen'. Fine, you can't dwell on it, but you need to learn from it. If you just throw it away, then you have also thrown away the lessons. I think she needs to balance that thing out.”

As for prodigious Saurabh, Jung said: “Saurabh has the talent. I won't say he has great technique, but he works very hard and whatever he is doing it is working for him. I don't want to change the technique. We are only trying to refine it so that he is able to manage better.”