Shooters Target Good Times

CHENNAI: On the scenic east coast of Scotland lies a town named Carnoustie. It is better known for its golf courses, which is one of the venues for the Open Championship. Around 1.8 miles to the west is the Ministry of Defense’s training camp which is the home for the Barry Buddon Shooting Centre.

With a full bore range, three temporary shotgun ranges and temporary enclosed ranges comprising a combined 10 and 50 metre range and a 25 metre range, it is here that the cream of shooters will fight it out for 19 gold medals across a span of five days from July 25 to July 29. With a rich haul of 30 medals, including 14 gold, 11 silver and five bronze medals, the Indian shooters finished with the highest number of medals in this sport by any country in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

Four years on, the shooters are all set to wreak havoc again. However, there will be only 19 gold medals as compared to 36 in 2010.

Leading the 30-member squad, the second biggest after athletics (41) and hockey (32), would be Beijing Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra and London Games bronze medallist Gagan Narang.

Former national shooting coach Sunny Thomas said that the shooters continue to remain India’s best bet, despite fewer events. “We have a great chance in Glasgow as far as shooting is concerned. Some of the key events have been taken away and almost half the events are not there but that does not reduce the standard. The 25m centre fire pistol where we have won quite a few medals won’t be there this time. Also, there will be no standard pistol and ‘pairs’ event,” he said.

Thomas said that shooting was heading in the right direction and the gradual growth in medals proved that. “We won 24 medals in Manchester, 27 in Melbourne and 30 in Delhi. The growth has been gradual. We will face stiff competition from England and Australia. There are a number of Indians who stand a chance of winning a medal this time,” he added.

Vijay Kumar, who won four medals in the previous edition, will be a strong contender in the 25m rapid fire pistol. “My event is towards the end of the shooting competitions, so I will have enough time to acclimatise with the conditions in Scotland,” said Vijay before leaving.  “I have been practicing quite hard for the Games and hopefully like the last two editions I will do well and win the gold.”

On the women’s side, expectations are high on Heena Sidhu, Rahi Sarnobat and Anisa Sayyed. One of the key names missing is that of Ronjan Singh Sodhi, who won two medals last time in double trap.

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