NEW DELHI: His World Cup Final debut may not have panned out in the manner he would have liked, but rifleman Ravi Kumar says tips from Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang have definitely helped him become better.
Competing in the 10m air rifle final at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, Kumar finished at the bottom of the heap in an eighth-man field, scoring 123.4.
Just after the high-scoring final ended, the 27-year-old Kumar expressed his disappointment, but he knows he can look forward to a bright future being mentored by people like Bindra, an Olympic champion, and London Games bronze winner Narang.
"I am just a beginner. When I am in any sort of trouble I take their help – from technical aspects of the sport to the mental side – they have been very helpful all the time," Kumar, who along with the likes of Deepak Kumar, are trying to fill illustrious boots, told PTI after his event.
The Air Force shooter from Meerut has reached two of the three finals of the World Cups – New Delhi and Munich -- he competed this year, finishing eighth and fifth respectively.
In Munich, he also shot a personal best of 629.1 in qualification.
Asked about areas that still need improvements, he mentioned finals.
"That is one area – the finals – I believe I need to work on." Summing up the day, Kumar said he was disappointed to have finished eighth after rubbing shoulders with the best in the business.
The opportunity to make amends would come when he takes to the range at Gold Coast in the upcoming Commonwealth Championships.
"I am not happy with my performance but in the Commonwealth Championships, I will look to put up a better performance.
"There has been good training, but don't know what happened today. It was not my day I would like to believe. All the shooters were very good, so it was a great experience for me ahead of the upcoming events." Kumar had teamed up with Bindra and Narang, winners of many medals in top international competitions, to win team bronze at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.