In a sport like shooting,” says Suma Shirur, “it’s all about the decimals. One breath can help you win or could take you out. It’s such a fine line and it depends on that particular day.”
India’s air rifle coach, who participated in the 10m air rifle in the 2004 Athens Olympics, points to the infinitesimally small margins that separate winners from the rest in a sport that could get India it’s largest haul of medals from a single discipline. Twenty-one Indians have qualified for the Paris Olympics’ shooting competition, starting 27 July, the biggest national contingent, alongside China’s 21.
There are 16 chances of medals in eight individual rifle and pistol events, including 10m air rifle, 10m air pistol, 50m rifle 3 positions and 25m rapid fire pistol for men and women. Apart from these, India also has shooters in four individual shotgun events and five mixed teams—two each in rifle and pistol, one in shotgun.
Shooting remains one of those disciplines that can spring any number of surprises, given the sheer depth of quality that’s available in India. It’s a truism that’s held since that 2008 Olympics where Abhinav Bindra won India’s first-ever individual gold medal. While India won nothing in shooting in Tokyo in 2021—reaching one final in 10 events—and Rio de Janeiro (2016) before that, an anomaly given its history and scale of accomplishments, Paris could be different based on early indications.
“Each one (shooter headed to Paris) has already proved themselves at some stage. In the OST (Olympic Selection Trials held in May), they showed that each one has it in them,” adds Shirur over the phone from Luxembourg, where her team is stationed while training at a camp in neighbouring France. “Among the rifle shooters, even someone in the fifth place had the ability to make it to the team.”
This wide range of talent is best exemplified from the 10m air rifle for men. In this discipline, Sandeep Singh and Arjun Babuta are going to Paris, leaving out Rudrankksh Patil, who won a World Championship gold in 2022 and an Olympic quota. However, Patil finished third behind Singh and Babuta in the OST. The governing body, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), had declared that the top two finishers in the trials would go to Paris. The Indian ranked highest in the category by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) is No.5 Divyansh Panwar, who will also not go to Paris.
The difference between Patil and Babuta on the final average scores, according to reports, was 0.3 points, a matter of decimals. “It’s the nature of the sport,” says Ronak Pandit, chief coach for the 25m pistol squad. “You may play a bad shot in cricket, give a catch but someone may drop it. You may go on to make a century. Shooting is not like that. You are competing with every other competitor. You need a 100% to pass; a 99% could fail you.”
“When I was a competitor,” adds Shirur, who was actively shooting through the 2000s, “we were about one or two shooters (from India) at that level. We would say that the Chinese didn’t need to go abroad because they had so much competition within the country. I am happy that in my event today, we have arrived at that scenario. We have competition within ourselves that helps push the athletes.”
India’s shooting riches have taken years to build, with Tokyo’s disappointment, in the wake of two preceding covid-dominated years, catalysing its growth. The period of introspection that followed 2021 led to changes that will perhaps reflect in a few weeks’ time.
When Pandit was competing in the national championships in the mid-2000s, he says there were about 450 competitors, as opposed to around 1,500 now after the elimination rounds. It took a few years after becoming a national champion for Pandit—a Commonwealth Games medal-winner in 2006—to be able to import equipment. Access to equipment, alongside government support, have improved in the last decade.
The Commonwealth Games in India in 2010 provided an upgrade of infrastructure because of which smaller ranges have mushroomed across big cities.
One of the biggest factors in shooting’s growth is that accomplished former shooters, such as Shirur, Pandit, Jaspal Rana, Samaresh Jung, Deepali Deshpande, Joydeep Karmarkar and others, either work with the NRAI or provide private coaching. Shooters like Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (silver in Athens Olympics, 2004), Bindra (gold, Beijing 2008), Gagan Narang (bronze, London 2012) and Vijay Kumar (silver, London) have shown that winning medals on the biggest stage is achievable.
In early 2022, the NRAI appointed Pierre Beauchamp, who has a doctorate in sports psychology, as a high-performance director for shooting. Pandit stresses on the significance of introducing sports science, an outcome of previous failures in Olympics, which has given stress management skills to technically competent shooters.
“Technical, mental and physical training is now integrated,” Pandit says. “There are exercises to improve quality and duration of focus. There is data collection—now we know that once we reach the Olympic Village, we need to give 24-36 hours of rest, then physical training and then 1-2 shooting training sessions. Now we are far more professional.”
Indian shooters have done well at events such as World Cups, and World and Asian Championships. For instance, in the last Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, the Indian team won a high 22 medals in shooting compared to China’s 29. However, these results don’t reflect similar success in the Olympics. This is the reason why Paris too comes with a touch of scepticism and caution to balance out the hope.
Both Shirur and Pandit agree that the Olympics bring in a different kind of pressure, attention and expectation, which becomes difficult to handle.
“What happens in India is we are so void and desperate for medals… Before the Worlds, for example, there is no drama. We train peacefully,” says Pandit. “Three months before the Olympics, the drama starts and people say ‘don’t take on any pressure’. Now everyone comes to the (shooting) range, wants to give inputs. Before the Olympics, when we should be most peaceful, is when we are most distracted. This is the reason athletes are not able to do well. Suddenly, you are shaking them and getting them out of their ‘zone’.”
In Paris, after China and India, the US has the biggest contingent (17) followed by Korea (16) and hosts France (15). One key difference would be the absence of Russia, as Deshpande told The Indian Express, due to its war against Ukraine. In Tokyo 2020, China, athletes from the Russian Olympic Committee and the US were the top 3 medal winners in shooting.
It’s perhaps the kind of providential nudge the Indian squad, which has prospects such as 22-year-old Manu Bhaker, 20-year-old Rhythm Sangwan—ranked third in the world in 10m air pistol—and 22-year-old Sift Kaur Samra, needs.
“As Indians, we have always been good in sports that require hand-eye coordination,” believes Shirur. “Our basic temperament helps us with a sport like shooting. It’s more of a mind game with technique involved, where you need calm aggression. I would say, the entire team is prepped for it. And primed.”
Arun Janardhan is a Mumbai-based journalist who covers sports, business leaders and lifestyle. He posts @iArunJ.
