CHENNAI: Celebrating his 32nd birthday, rifle shooter Deepak Kumar could not have hoped for a better gift than a medal around his neck and an Olympic quota. That’s what he earned for himself on the opening day of the Asian Shooting Championship in Doha on Tuesday. Deepak’s bronze medal took India’s quota count in shooting to 10.
This means Deepak has a strong prospect of spending his 33rd summer in Tokyo next year. The National Rifle Association of India will pick shooters for the 2020 Olympics, based on their scores in various competitions.
On the day, the Delhi-born shooter shot 227.8 in the eight-man final to climb the podium. Prior to that, he had aggregated 626.8 in the qualification round. “We all were hoping that he would win the quota and he did. We’re all thrilled. I have seen him shoot well in the past. However, sometimes he would fall just short during crucial junctures,” Deepali Deshpande, national rifle coach, said.
This glory comes after near misses in the past. Last year, the Asiad silver medallist had just missed out in the first quota event — 2018 World Championships. Rubbing shoulders with the cream of the sport, he had finished sixth. The top-four had earned quotas then. Despite that, he had seemed to be in a good place then. However, what followed was a disastrous spell. A slide down the hill that saw him post below-average scores and finish 34th (Delhi WC) and 57th (Beijing WC).
Those were setbacks that could have broken many. But not Deepak, who works for Indian Air Force. He kept striving to improve and made tiny changes in his game.
“He is an experienced professional and he’s highly disciplined. He didn’t do anything drastic despite things not going in his favour. Instead, he incorporated small changes periodically and that has worked for him,” Deepali noted.
In the last World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, the World No 9 had shown signs of improvement, qualifying for the final. But that was not quite enough and Doha had become a make-or-break event for Deepak.
“The first two World Cups was a struggle but in Munich, he came very close and missed the final by a small margin. In Rio, he did make the finals but faltered after that. It was a high-pressure match for Deepak because it was his last chance,” national coach Manoj Kumar, who has guided Deepak since 2012, said.
Apart from subtle changes in technique, Deepak’s discipline and hard work has seen him this far, according to Manoj. “Discipline, training and the same cycle over and over again.”
While Deepak had a birthday to remember, seasoned shooters Apurvi Chandela and Anjum Moudgil, who were among first to earn quotas for India, had a quiet day. Both failed to get past the qualifying hurdle in the women’s 10m air rifle event, finishing 12th and 9th, respectively.
Elavenil Valarivan did better, beating her seniors to enter the finals. However, the youngster could not go on to win a medal, settling for the fifth spot. “It was a miss for both but it’s alright. If you peak now, it might be tough to replicate the same later. They (Anjum and Apurvi) are experienced shooters and we’ll keep working hard to be in strong shape ahead of the Tokyo Olympics,” Deepali said.
Later, Manu Bhaker, who has already won a quota, won the women’s 10m air pistol event.