NAGOYA: Days before the Asian Games, the shooters went through a training regimen simulating crowd din, learnt how to control their heartbeat through science and traditional means of yoga and meditation, adapted to different conditions but what they endured here on arrival was not part of any coaching manual. It was unexpected.
The first few days after landing in Nagoya, the team has been trouble-shooting instead of shooting. Even on Friday night, a shooter was assigned the wrong room after the room, where she was originally granted, was allocated to doping control instead. Fortunately, her event begins a few days later. It seems the ordeal is not over yet at this edition of the Asian Games, not even a day before shooting competition begins here on Sunday.
The shooters usually skip the Opening Ceremony because of their schedule of competition — which is always on the first day – but this time there was no question of them taking part in it. "Not at all, the venue is too far," said a coach.
Like one coach told this daily in jest on Saturday, their target has shifted from sport to finding solutions. The team has been booked more than 50 kilometres away from the Aichi Prefectural Shooting Range and the journey takes more than an hour. Early on, just after the team landed in Nagoya, as highlighted by this newspaper, the shooting team had to spend hours at the airport before finding their way to the hotel. Just as the team finished sorting out their hotel problem, the team was hit by a transport issue.
This led to the team missing a day of training, which is crucial before the Games. In sport, each day of ritual is meticulously chalked out and ends just before the day of the competition. Coaches and support staff had to secure transport, find the fastest routes to the venue and the toughest part was to keep the shooters motivated and focussed. Though the shooters were distressed, they had to adjust quickly and focus on the game. It is not just about training but also recovery, which the athlete missed for a day. Not healthy, but they had to deal with it.
This all seemed like an extension of the hard training they had undergone at the Bhopal national camp before the Asian Games. They had simulated a final-kind of atmosphere with young trainees of the MP State Shooting Academy creating noise of supporters. Not just that, the shooters were given high-tech gadgets to measure their heartbeats and monitor them while shooting. They had chest-straps and it was connected to a device and with an app on the phone. They placed the phone where they checked their target in front and knew how their heart was reacting.
The control heart rate, science and traditional method of controlling anxiety were fused. The shooters were taught different breathing techniques, yoga and meditation to control their beats — the most crucial part of shooting. They had sensors on their fingers to monitor temperature as well.
This will come handy when the shooters walk into the range on Sunday. The team's high performance manager, Ronak Pandit, was still busy with logistics but found time to speak on the team's morale a day ahead of the Games. He, however, did not want to go back to their initial days of ordeal at this point of time.
"We have ensured the team is in good shape despite our struggle to chisel out logistical issues after landing," he told this daily. "We are ready as always. Missing training is not good for any athlete and this is the Asian Games. However, our shooters will put everything behind on Sunday and concentrate on the job in hand."
The shooting competition in the Asian Games is always a steep challenge with competitors from China and South Korea showing their acumen. China generally dominate rifle and pistol events in the continental Games but India are no pushovers either. "We play for gold and this time too, our target would be the biggest prize," said Pandit. "There is pressure that comes with the game but our shooters are experienced enough to handle it. They know what to do and how to do it. And they know how to control their emotions."
The focus also will be on the team event where India are expected to do well. "We have simulated a competition environment in Bhopal where shooters thrived. Now it is time to execute what they have learnt," he said.
In the women's air rifle category, Elavenil Valarivan would be one of the senior members with experience of Olympics, who would spearhead the team. With her would be Sonam Uttam Maskar, whose father had to sell land to help her pursue her dream and Vidarsa K Vinod, a promising talent from Kerala who is one of the new faces in the team. Using a rifle which was gifted by her coach Manoj Kumar — the high performance coach of 50m rifle 3 positions team, Vidarsa will be hoping for a bright start.