NEW DELHI: Thursday's action at the ISSF World Cup was set to commence with the gold medal match for the team 50m rifle three positions team event. India and Hungary with three shooters each arrived on time and lined up when a lengthy discussion between Hungarian World No 1 Istvan Peni and the judges and jury members ensued.
In an unprecedented move, Peni and teammate Zalan Pekler decided to withdraw in protest against their own teammate -- former World Champion and five-time Olympian Peter Sidi.
The bone of contention was the presence of a bipod on Sidi's rifle. A jury member said that the way Sidi was using it was allowed. In fact, the NRAI, ISSF and all the jury members present here checked the 42-year-old's rifle six times since the competition started and did not find a problem with it. Peni was quite furious and explained his stance.
"The jury here may have cleared his gun but in Hungary the jury thinks differently. The ISSF Chairman also has a different opinion on this (than the jury here). If something is in the grey zone, people can have different opinions. But this is not just about this incident alone, he has been doing such things for a number of years now. The Hungarian federation and head coach have also warned him that he shouldn't be using it (bipod) during this competition. Just this week, the coach had sent him an email asking him not to do any such thing."
The Munich World Championship gold winner was clearly emotional as he tried to explain the purpose behind the bipod on his Walther KK500 rifle.
"The bipod was for weight balance. If someone asks you to remove even 10 gm before a final it would be akin to asking Lewis Hamilton to change to wet tires just before the commencement of an F1 race. You have been training with this weight for years and years to try and find the perfect balance. I have been using this rifle for the last four years, in World and European Championships but I have never faced any problem."
This problem between the pair is not a new one. While earlier it was limited to national tournaments, now it is out in the open.
Interestingly, both are in the Hungary squad for the Tokyo Olympics. This rift first reared its ugly head last September during the Hungary national championships in the three positions final. With just ten shots left, Peni alerted the jury regarding Sidi's rifle.
"Peni started protesting against my rifle saying it was not correct. He went to the judges after each subsequent shot of mine and the jury came to my line to check my rifle and I had to give up my position. Obviously, they did not find anything. He decided to create this trouble to reach the medal rounds. He was fifth at that point in time and I was leading, and due to the trouble he created, he ended up winning the silver medal. The worst was yet to come. Two weeks before coming here during the Hungarian Indoor championships, I was given a red card after Peni's team complained against me. The jury said my rifle was not correct. I'm shooting for 25 years at the highest level and have never ever got a red card in Olympics events. It looks like there is a different level back home," Sidi said.
While both gave their views to the media separately, at one point it got quite heated as the shooters started recording videos of each other speaking to the members of the press to check if the other was spreading any misinformation. While this might not be the best look for Hungary, Peni was adamant that the step he took will reflect positively on his country.
"This has been going for years. Peter Sidi has been disqualified multiple times for violating the rules. He has a way of going around the rules; he has played around with his equipment in the past too, and a respected Hungarian jury once resigned in disgust, saying they won't adjudicate until Sidi continues to shoot. We hope that this act of mine and my teammate Zalan Pekler shows the strength of our country and spells out that we stand together as a community in rejecting people who are not trying to adjust."
No complaint was lodged by either of the shooters but the incident has reached the ISSF president and secretary. Hungary are out of the competition but the Indian trio of Niraj Kumar, Swapnil Kusale and Chain Singh will not be given gold but instead will have to fight it out against USA who were eliminated during qualifications.
ISSF technical director Yair Davidovich said, "They didn't come for the competition, so we have decided to conduct the gold medal match between India and USA tomorrow. There are no ISSF rules for such scenarios, and the decision rests with the president and gen secy. I have informed them already and they'll decide (on sanctions or penalty). I don't do any sanctions, my job is to conduct the competition. Since it is a new event, we want the competition to go ahead."
Women's pistol team wins gold
The 25m women's pistol team comprising Rahi Sarnobat, Manu Bhaker and Chinki Yadav, all three Tokyo Olympics quota winners, struck gold on Day seven of the ISSF World Cup underway at New Delhi's Dr. Karni Singh Shooting range on Thursday. The troika, which led an Indian 1-2-3 in the individual competition on Wednesday, downed Poland 17-7.
Asian Games champion Rahi Sarnobat was particularly impressive as she shot a series of five out five hits (seven) out of the 12 five-shot series that were required to win the match.
This was India's 10th gold of this world cup and they continue to lead the table with 21 medals, including six silver and five bronze medals. In the 50m Rifle 3 Positions Team Women, India went down to Poland 43-47 in a close encounter to settle for silver.