CHENNAI: Prithviraj Tondaiman is at the peak of his powers. At 37, he is all set to become the first shooter from Tamil Nadu to take part in the Olympics. Coming from the lineage of Maharaja of Pudukkottai, Prithviraj — son of Rajagopala Tondaiman who was also a shooter — had fallen short of qualification for Rio and Tokyo Olympics. Paris, however, will see the trap shooter stake his claim at the biggest stage.
The road to this point, however, has not been a featherbed. After missing out on Tokyo Games, Prithviraj was determined to give his everything over the next three years to make the Paris dream happen. He was working as hard as he ever did, training as much as he always used to. However, it all took one conversation with Russell Mark, who joined as India coach in 2022, to lift him up.
The first time Mark met Prithviraj and watched him train, he told the Indian that everything is perfect with his technique and he has the ability to win a medal. "Till that point, no one had said that to me," recalls Prithviraj in a conversation with this daily. "Him being a champion, olympic medallist twice... someone like him saying that... It kind of changed me a lot. We haven’t had someone who came to a player and said you can win a medal. They often try to correct the mistakes, but he was the first to say I can win a medal," he adds in an interaction facilitated by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).
Mark did not stop with just encouraging words. He also made it clear to Prithviraj that it was time to win. He detailed out a training programme for Prithviraj which had the do's and don'ts, how to train without tiring himself and more. He started perfecting himself technically, working towards smaller goals, practising single shots so that he could be ready when the moment comes in a final. Mark would also make the training fun by setting goals and rewarding the shooter.
"He would turn and say 'I will give you $50 but you cannot miss the first and last target. You cannot miss two targets in a row or you cannot miss when the guy on your left misses. If you do all this, I will give you $50'. If someone does that, they believe in you and want you to do well. He is not wasting his time and is actually putting his own money to make you do something. These are very important things in a competition."
It did come in handy when he was in a crunch situation during the ISSF Shotgun World Cup at Doha where Prithviraj finished third, winning his first ever World Cup medal. "The final was neck-to-neck and England shooter Coward Holly had missed a shot in the shoot-out. He missed in the shoot-out, I had to hit only one of the last three to win silver. When he missed, I also missed. That is pressure. From thereon, the confidence grew. It was highly competitive in Doha with all the countries taking part. To win a medal in that field was a big confidence booster."
Prithviraj took that confidence into the ISSF World Cup Shotgun in Lonato, Italy later that year and accounted for another bronze medal. By this time, he had realised winning medals at big events was more about mental strength than technique. This is where Mark, who left the India coaching role midway through 2023, and the psychologist the TN shooter had been working with, played a significant role.
"It's absolutely very important to be mentally very strong. The difference between a guy who doesn't win a medal and a champion is that make-up. Even if you look at my Lonato World Cup, the interview right after the World Cup, the commentator told me 'throughout the final, I kept saying, oh, he's under trouble, he's under trouble but looks like you are never under trouble because you ended up winning. What did you do differently? How did you, how did you get through this?' I missed a few targets in the beginning but after that, I had to mentally pull myself and say I will get a chance because there are other shooters who are also probably going to miss it some time. And when they miss, I have to be there. I cannot give up. You have to be very tough to fight till the very end."
Mark might have left the Indian team, but the two still keep in touch and discuss a lot about Prithviraj's shooting technique whenever they meet. And if the Indian needs anything, he would get in touch with the Australian any time he needs. For the Paris Olympics, the 37-year-old prepared in Croatia, where he was shooting with Giovanni Cernogoraz, London Olympic Games gold medallist and also the current world champion, in the first week of July before joining the Indian contingent in Italy. Since then, the Indian team has been training at Cernay, a small French commune next to the Switzerland border, before the Games begins.
As much as Prithviraj is confident and mentally ready for the big challenge, the occasion and what it means to his family in Pudukkottai has not escaped his mind. "My father was a shooter and he had also wanted to take part in the Olympics. It was his passion also. He put in a lot of hard work but because he started very late he couldn't achieve it. So he gave it everything when I started the shooting, he supported me in every way possible because when we didn't have a range to train in Tamil Nadu, he built a range for me which is no small task. Even today, he goes to the range every day, he coaches them every single day. So more than the family history and everything, that dedication that he has put in and is still putting in for that. This Olympic qualification of mine is a very, very happy moment for him. And now it's time to make them more proud and win a medal at the games."