Hangzhou Breather

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Vinayak Padmadeo

THE postponement of the Hangzhou Asian Games, due to the Covid pandemic, is a blessing for the Indian shooting community, which was in the line of fire for returning empty-handed from last year’s Tokyo Olympics. The Tokyo show was followed by six months of upheaval, in which the coaches’ contracts were not renewed.

The shooters continued to train in their home bases, but the break in the national camps for the core group due to the pandemic snapped their link with the national coaches, some of whom have returned to the National Rifle Association of India fold.

As the junior team was being assembled in New Delhi ahead of the ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl, the coaches made a WhatsApp group for quick communication. Surprisingly, they struggled to get the numbers of the squad, except for three-four regular squad members. The enormity of the challenge hit the coaching staff – a majority of the shooters had come through open trials and hadn’t been regular part of the squad. They’d need time to jell as a team.

It was a similar case with the senior team that took part at the Cairo World Cup. There were a lot of new faces in the team, including Rana Gaurav and Pradhyumn Singh. At the trials the two shot identical scores of 583 that propelled them into the senior team. In Cairo, the duo scored 575 and 563, respectively. The dip in the scores raised a lot of eyebrows.

It’s accepted that new shooters may initially struggle at the senior level, but the drop in points made coaches jittery in the months leading up to the Commonwealth and Asian Games.

But now, with the Asian Games postponed, the focus shifts to the ISSF World Championships (Shotgun), to be held in Croatia from September 27, and the rifle/pistol World Championships in Cairo from October 10.

If the Asian Games hadn’t been postponed, the shooters would have got only 10 days for the changeover.

‘Time on our hands’

After the postponement, there is a general sense of relief among the coaching staff, for now they have the time work on the shooters who are rookies at the senior level.

“A few of the pistol team have never shot in a major international. The Asian Games would have been their first-ever international. I’m not saying they’re bad, but there is immense pressure on the shooters at events such as the Asiad,” said a coach.

Pistol coach Ronak Pandit prefers to look at the positives and plan ahead, instead of worrying about what might go wrong. “The postponement was sad, for the world was just getting back to its feet in terms of the sporting calendar. But we must take it in our stride and re-plan and use this delay to our advantage,” Pandit said.

Pandit said the recalibration of the plans has started, with the national camps and core group shooters getting back the attention, which was not the case for the last couple of years due to the start-stop nature of training during several lockdowns and curbs. “We are getting to know some of them. Now that we have time, we will put them through some pressure simulations. Shooters may not lose rhythm during trials, but simulation is where the pressure can affect them,” Pandit explained. “The coaches will tell them how good or bad they are shooting and see whether they lose their poise. If it happens, we’ll be the ones to give them the keys to solve the problem. It is a crucial aspect of training.”

Relief for wrestlers

The wrestling team has also got out of a potential banana skin scenario. After the Commonwealth Games, which start on July 25, the wrestlers were to be in China for the Asiad and then in Serbia for the World Championships, starting on September 10.

Because of this fixture pile-up, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) had decided to send a B team to Serbia as it is not an Olympics quota tournament. Now that the Hangzhou Games are off the calendar, the WFI will send its top team to Serbia.

All the major wrestlers, including Dahiya and Bajrang Punia, had originally planned on missing the Serbia tournament. Ravi Dahiya’s coach, Arun Kumar, said his ward will now be able to compete in the World Championships. “Yes, we’ll plan for the World Championships now. First he is supposed to appear for the trials for the Commonwealth Games and we will focus on the Worlds after that,” Arun said.

“We’ll call for a trial before the World Championships. It is expected that all our major athletes will take part since the Asian Games have been postponed,” WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar informed.

Hockey

Among other sports, Hockey India (HI) now has the freedom to send their best team to the Birmingham CWG. HI had earlier announced that they’d send a B team to the CWG since the focus was on the Asian Games, an Olympics qualifying tournament.

The track & field athletes are also relieved. They had a tough choice to make from three major events — World Championships (Oregon, July 15-24), the Birmingham CWG and Hangzhou Asiad. Some had plans to take part in the FISU World University Games as well. With the Asiad out of the way, the athletes now have an easier choice to make.

Jitters in softball

The women’s softball athletes are among those who are disappointed by the postponement. The team was building up steam for the Asiad, with camps already lined up. “It is very disappointing, the entire team was looking forward to the Asian Games,” Softball Association of India president Neetal Narang said. “I hope they’d hold the Asiad and not cancel it like the Youth Games. However, on the positive side, we now have more time, and we’d get a foreign coach and hold more camps.”

Sporting logjam: Calendar for key sports before Asiad postponement

Archery: Archery World Cup in Paris (June 20-26), World University Games in Chengdu (June 26-July 3)

Shooting: Asian Games in Hangzhou (September 10-25), World Championships (Shotgun from September 27 in Croatia, Rifle/Pistol from October 10 in Egypt)

Wrestling: Asian Games (September 10-25), World Championship in Serbia (September 10-18)

Track & field: World University Games in Chengdu (June 26-July 3), World Championships in Oregon (July 15-24), Commonwealth Games in Birmingham (July 28-August 8), Asian Games (September 10-25)

Hockey: Commonwealth Games (July 28-August 8), Asian Games (September 10-25)