NAGOYA: The historical Kurugaike pond is close by. It provides water to the agricultural lands on the highlands adorned with beautiful coniferous trees on the hills. The hilly areas near the iconic Toyota city are replete with gushing clear water streams, green terrace fields and a few small hamlets. The quietness of the hills is broken by the shot-gun bursts that end in staccato over the picturesque landscape. It is a vacation spot with a lot of camping sites.
Indian shooters have had one of the horrendous times after landing here early this week. From finding their way to the hotel rooms to arranging transportation to this part of the Aichi Prefecture, everything seemed like an ordeal. Nothing was smooth until on Sunday when three 10m air rifle shooters stepped on the qualifying arena of the Aichi Prefectural Shooting hall.
Sonam Maskar, Vidarsa K Vinod and the seasoned Elavenil Valarivan ensured India had a medal – silver in the women’s team event. This was India’s first medal in shooting, a sport India is banking on to win quite a few medals. Just a few hours later, Elavenil, who has had a remarkable last few years or so, went on to repeat the feat - this time in the individual event. For a sport that has managed to win medals at Olympics, the Asian Games would mean a good hunting ground. With China, South Korea and hosts Japan in the mix, this of course, would not be easy.
Sunday too was one of those days where all shooters had to be in their best form to ensure India a medal. Maskar was the pick of the three, finishing third in the two relays behind China’s Wang Zifei and Korea’s Ban Hyojin. Maskar had some immaculate rounds with shots of 10.9s to return with an impressive 634.1 points. As was expected, China's Zifei topped the charts with an Asian Games record of 636.8. Elavenil, who competed in the second relay, had a score of 633.5 and helped India (1898) seal the second position ahead of hosts Japan (1897.1). China, on the other hand, secured gold with a World Record team score of 1904.2 points.
Sonam, who has been in stellar form this season, started off well and until the end and maintained her bearing for third place. Vidarsa’s 630.4 was not good enough for a final spot but she helped India to the medal.
In the individual final, Elavenil made a strong start and led for large parts. As is expected at this level, it was a tense affair and the shooters were under intense pressure. Maskar survived two eliminations but could not avoid the third one and was forced to settle for the sixth spot. Even World No 1 Zifei strayed and could only do one better - finishing fifth. Elavenil, meanwhile, continued to get the high scores and stay ahead. But just when it seemed like gold was in sight for her, local shooter Hinata Taichi of Japan raised her level to pip the Indian for the top prize. Elavenil finished with an impressive 252.4 while Hinata had 253, which was a Games Record mark.