CHENNAI: Sports is a strange vocation. The pressure of failure is more than success, especially for big stars. Indian shooters were expected to win medals at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics, but until Tuesday, there was none. Whether you are 19 like Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker, or 40, pressure shows no mercy.
After a consistent performance over the last few years, the two have been the biggest medal hopes for India. Call it pressure or luck, the two failed to advance to the medal round finishing seventh in the mixed event on Tuesday.
Sabre is out and critics are baying for blood. High Performance Manager Ronak Pandit, who is also in charge of the pistol shooters, is well aware of it but feels there is no need for a knee-jerk reaction. The team, Saurabh and Manu, in particular, have shot better than their average scores. Ronak felt the issue is there was no medal to show. While speaking with the The New Indian Express from Tokyo, Ronak spoke about the challenges the teenagers faced and what next. Excerpts...
How do you evaluate the team's performance?
As far as the pistol team is concerned, I'm quite happy with their performance. Yes, they have missed out on a medal but their efforts and their points have been satisfactory. In pistol, four out of five have shot and one event is yet to happen. Out of the four, favourites were Saurabh and Manu. Saurabh entered the final in the 10m air pistol and that too after topping the qualification round. Manu almost made the final, and was in contention until the last shot. I am not sad with their performance. I feel sad because those performances did not result in medals. Given the conditions and situation, they both did very well. There is no reason to be sad or to overreact. Even Abhishek, until the last series, was expected to be in the final. Out of four shooters, one made it to the final and the other two almost made it. And this is the Olympics we are talking about. Everyone has come with proper preparation. The whole world is here and are performing at their peak. And the fact that we have first-timers at the Olympics, it says a lot about them.
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So do you think Indians, too, had peaked?
All of them were shooting well. Saurabh, especially, has been very good and topped his qualification with 586. Today (Tuesday) he shot 490 out of 500 in the three stages. He is shooting at an average of 588. So if he is shooting at an average of 586, 588, obviously he is in the peak of his form. Manu almost qualified shooting in half the time allocated to her despite so much of distraction and nervousness due to equipment failure. She still managed 577. Despite issues with the gun and being a debutant at the Olympics, she has given her average score.
Even in Rio, the scenario was the same. India had World No 1 but could not bring home a medal. Your thoughts...
When you look at Rio, only Jitu Rai had a very good average score coming into the Olympics. But if you look at this group, everyone has good scores. So this is a better team. That is why we have so many shooters doing well with some even with a real chance to enter the final.
Evaluation that is needed now...
I don't think much evaluation is needed in the pistol team. Saurabh was in the final, Manu was almost in the final. Even Abhishek, too, was almost there. It was just two, two-and-a-half months ago that we started working with Manu. And also score-wise, it was not something very bad. I don't think we should overreact. After the Olympics, we should take a break and start again.
Is lack of consistency & ill-luck hurting the team?
You take this as an example. There are 10-15 World Cups a year and you are winning four-five medals. So you are not winning in every World Cup. But there will always be another where you can win one. But the Olympics is only one, that too, in four years. So it's not easy.
Would you like to say something on what the NRAI president said today — about complete overhaul of the system, including coaches?
We definitely need to change the structure of our training. I have been discussing this with the federation. Yes, we should analyse our performance in terms of scores. The pistol shooters have been scoring what they were scoring earlier. I don't think there is a need for a knee-jerk reaction but yes, some kind of analysis will help. How we can improve in the Olympics can always be discussed.
What are the factors involved in getting a good result?
Take Saurabh's case for instance. His qualification scores say he was in form. Then you have a break. Then there is an introduction for each team for around five-six minutes. After that, you get one minute to adjust to everything. If that person doesn't get adjusted in that one minute (it's precision sport!) then it will have an effect on his performance. That's part of the game. So that's why it all depends on how one shoots on that particular day. In the Olympics, the pressure is always high and the margin of error is almost none. In shooting, there is no second chance.