|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
India will field a strong contingent of 11 shooters at the 2012 London Olympics. They are gearing up to train their guns, to hit more than one medal on the big stage For the first time, India have earned 11 quota places for an Olympics, two places more than the Beijing games. Those who have made the Olympic cut are Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang, Sanjeev Rajput, Joydeep Karmarkar, Vijay Kumar, Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Ronjon Sodhi, Rahi Sarnobath, Anuraj Singh, Heena Sidhu and Shugun Choudhary. Gagan Narang, who was the first to book a berth for London, will compete in three events — 10m air rifle, 50m rifle prone and 50m rifle 3 position — and the coaches look up to him to deliver. At the Olympic level, the competition will be very tough, as out of the 390 shooters, 300 are of equal standard. The Indian shooters have upstaged many a top gun recently, and they have now developed the self-belief that they will put up a good show in the London Olympics. Chief coach Sunny Thomas has claimed that all Indian shooters stand a chance of winning a medal. The shooters are now gearing up for three World Cups before the Olympics, to test their mettle and wares, before the mega show in London. The team will leave for London on April 15 for the first World Cup, to be held at the Olympic shooting range, followed by the other World Cups in Germany and Italy, before returning home to pursue their coaching programme. The shooters will then go to Germany to practice at Hanovar, and from there, they will fly to London for the Olympics. And this time around, the shooters are gunning for more Olympic medals, and they are confident of hitting the bull’s eye in more than one event.
|
||
|
|
||
Abhinav Bindra had set a benchmark when he shot a gold in the 10-metre air rifle at the 2008 Beijing Games, to become the first Indian to strike an individual gold in the Olympics. Shooting got a shot in the arm at the 2004 Athens Olympics when Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, trapped a silver. Ever since, the country has been pinning high hopes on the shooters to do well in the international arena. 
The Olympic medals won by Rathore and Bindra have raised the bar for the shooters, who are now a pampered lot, with the government and the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), meeting all their demands and requirements, so that they can focus on their training and competition. 