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Anish Bhanwala won gold medals in the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

Vinayak Padmadeo

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 13

These are exciting times for the Indian shooting team. The rifle and pistol team is replete with teenagers who may look childlike but are battle-hardened to jostle for gold at the Asian Games.

Of course, there are established stars in the team, including Heena Sidhu and Rahi Sarnobat in the pistol team, and Apurvi Chandela and Sanjeev Rajput in the rifle team. But the inclusion of Manu Bhaker, Anish Bhanwala, Saurabh Chaudhary and Elavenil Valarivan in the squad has raised hopes ahead of one of the toughest competitions in shooting.

Though in their teens, the quartet has been winning medals at the junior and senior levels this year. Manu, 16, hit the headlines with the sensational gold medal at the season’s first ISSF World Cup in Guadalajara in Mexico in 10m air pistol. Two more wins followed her debut gold —first at the Junior World Cup in Sydney and then at the Junior World Cup in Germany. Manu then went on to win the Commonwealth Games gold medal with a Games record.

Bhanwala, who hails from Karnal and is also 16, has been in winning form too. A gold medal in the rapid fire event at the Junior World Cup in Sydney was followed by a bronze in Sydney. He bagged a gold at the Commonwealth Games too.

Chaudhary, too, has made a habit of scoring big. The Baghpat lad won the air pistol gold medal at the Suhl World Cup. Similarly, Elavenil has been hitting the headlines for high scores in the 10m metre air rifle event. The reigning national champion won in Sydney after setting the world record score with a score of 631.4 in the qualification stage. She then bettered the mark during the selection trials in June with 632.2.

‘Simple, competitive girl’

For a 19-year-old, she has already set big standards. And the expectations are high. But she distances herself from all the hype. “I have no expectations,” Elavenil told The Tribune before leaving for Indonesia. “I am just training and I just want to be the best,” added Elavenil, or Ela for her teammates.

National coach and former world record holder Suma Shirur said Elavenil, despite shooting high scores, has managed to stay grounded. “She is grounded and honest, traits that make a good human being. I just love her attitude and clarity of mind. She is competitive, very competitive actually,” Suma said. “This would be her first time in the senior squad and straightaway at the Asian Games. So, it is exciting, I am just curious to see how well she can do. But I think she is in very good form, so it is just about waiting and watching how well she can cope with being in a different environment, with the seniors, with all the attention.”

Pistol coach Jaspal Rana, though, has cautioned about expecting too much from the teenagers. “They are in the limelight. If I have my way, I will keep them away from all functions. This is the Asian Games where multiple World Cup winners will compete. I think everyone has to be realistic about winning,” Rana said. “But it is a good thing too, they would need to cope with the high expectations.”

Dark horse

Rana picked Chaudhary as the dark horse among the youngsters. “His scores have been very well, and he is not in the limelight ,” he added.

The Contenders

Only four Indians have won individual gold medals at the Asian Games — Randhir Singh, Jaspal Rana, Ronjan Sodhi and Jitu Rai. This shows how incredibly tough the competition is in the continental Games. These are India’s best bets for gold in Indonesia:

Men

Ravi Kumar

10m Air Rifle

Ranked No. 1 in Asia

Won bronze medal at the Guadalajara World Cup in March, was fourth at Changwon World Cup in April. Won a bronze medal at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games

Akhil Sheoran

50m Rifle 3 Positions

Ranked No. 2 in Asia

Won gold at the Guadalajara World Cup in March

Sanjeev Rajput

50m 3 Positions

Ranked No. 3 in Asia

Was fourth at the Guadalajara World Cup in March, won gold at the Commonwealth Games

Anish Bhanwala

25m Rapid Fire Pistol

Ranked No. 8 in Asia

Won gold at the Gold Coast CWG, had finished seventh at the Guadalajara World Cup in March

Women

Manu Bhaker

10m Pistol

Ranked No. 3 in Asia

Won gold at the Guadalajara World Cup in March and followed it up with another gold at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast

Anjum Moudgil

50m Rifle 3P

Ranked No. 4 in Asia

Won silver at the Guadalajara World Cup in March, and another silver at the Commonwealth Games, and finished seventh at Munich World Cup in May

Apurvi Chandela

10m Rifle

Ranked No. 5 in Asia

A consistent medal hopeful at global events, Apurvi was seventh at the Guadalajara World Cup in March and won bronze at the Commonwealth Games

Mixed Team

Ravi Kumar/Apurvi Chandela

10m Rifle Mixed Team

Finished fourth at the Guadalajara World Cup in March, fifth at the Changwon World Cup in April

04 Days to go

Shooting preview

Shooting was India’s second-most productive discipline four years ago — India won 1 gold, 1 silver and 9 bronze at Incheon 2014. We can hope for a similar count this time around, though it’s impossible to make a prediction because competition in Asia is very intense.

Key facts

Hopes on youth

On offer: A total of 20 gold medals — 10 for men, 7 for women and 3 for mixed events

India’s hopes: Not too many Indians have won gold at the Asian Games. This time around, two teenagers, Manu Bhaker (10m and 25m Pistol) and Anish Bhanwala (Rapid Fire Pistol) carry India’s hopes. However, the team has veterans such as Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Heena Sidhu (in pic), Sanjeev Rajput, Apurvi Chandela, Shreyasi Singh, etc who can climb the podium

Shooting Squads

Men

50 Rifle 3P: Sanjeev Rajput, Akhil Sheoran

Air Rifle: Ravi Kumar, Deepak Kumar

30m Rifle: Harjinder Singh, Amit Kumar

Air Pistol: Abhishek Verma, Saurabh Chaudhary

Rapid Fire Pistol: Shivam Shukla, Anish Bhanwala

Trap: Lakshay Sheoran, Manavjit Singh Sandhu

Skeet: Sheeraz Sheikh, Angad Vir Singh Bajwa

Double Trap: Ankur Mittal, Shardul Vihan

Women

50 Rifle 3P: Anjum Moudgil, Gayathri N