CHENNAI: The wait is finally over for Anish Bhanwala. He had made several attempts in the past but had ultimately blanked. Despite his rich CV, those misses had planted seeds of doubt in his mind. Pressure is the word that he'd often mention while trying to make sense of his shortcomings. But Sunday was a welcome boost for the pistol shooter, who finally found his answers. Pressure was intense but Anish navigated the same to return with his maiden senior World Championship medal — a silver medal in the men's 25m rapid fire pistol.
It's no wonder that he was stoked with the outcome. "It is difficult to explain in words but the feeling is completely unreal. I have tried a lot of times before; my preparation has been good but I could not deliver when it came to the competition. This time I was better prepared in my training and things worked out in my favour," Anish said in the post-match interview.
The 23-year-old, after promising rounds in the initial stages of the six-man final, found himself locked in a shoot-off with a rival shooter for the all-important medal at the latest edition of the marquee event in Cairo, Egypt. It was a do-or-die affair. The Indian could be seen breathing heavily. Both Anish and Emanuel Mueller from Germany, the other shooter battling for the medal, blinked twice in the first five-shot series of shoot-off. Anish, who was the second one to shoot, had missed out on a chance to secure the coveted medal.
It was a second chance for Mueller. But he erred twice again to hand the initiative again to the Indian. Anish, this time had a wry smile on his face before he set himself for his second attempt. Barely a few seconds later, Anish could afford a proper smile as he had shot four out of five to seal the medal, his first-ever at the senior level of the competition.
Moments later, Anish won yet another shoot-off battle against Maksym Horodynets of Ukraine to change the colour of medal to silver. Clement Bessaguet of France, who captured the gold, was beyond Anish's reach.
This was the moment Anish had longed for. This was where he had faltered on multiple occasions in the past. Not this time. Anish, who has elevated his game in recent times, finally reached the promised land.
"In 2018, I was putting up decent scores to win medals in the Commonwealth Games. But in the all-important events like the World Championships, I was unable to cope with pressure. I was not able to translate the same results that I was showing in the junior events. I was also lacking maturity I guess," Anish had told this daily after a fruitful Summer last year.
All the forces behind Anish had been waiting for this moment. Coach Harpreet Singh, who has been giving him lessons since the time Anish picked up the craft, was pleased as punch.
"We had prepared for a day like this. In a competition like the World Championship, there's no room for even small mistakes. It is a tough competition. His hard world has paid off and I'm delighted."
New grip, work on stance
The coach revealed that the shooter from Karnal, Haryana had acquired a new grip not so long ago.
"In regards to his technique, it's nothing new. We have been working on that aspect for the last 10 years or so. Earlier, he was a kid, he was small. We had changed his grip just six months ago since his old grip had become tight. We were looking to set that and get him used to the new grip. We had also worked on his stance, whatever little gaps he had in his stance," the former Commonwealth Games medallist, who is also Anish's neighbour, said.
After a relatively quiet start — he finished 11th, 13th and 18th in the opening three World Cups, Anish regained his form during the Asian Championships in August, where he captured silver. After his latest medal, he will now line up alongside some of the top-ranked shooters in the World Cup Final which is scheduled to be held at Doha, Qatar in December.
With the weight of World Championships finally off his shoulders, the coach expects him to be better-prepared for another medal that is missing in his CV. "Anish had called me and he was very happy. The ultimate goal is the Olympic medal in Los Angeles. I want him to win that."
There's still a long way to go before the LA Games but Anish is taking steps in the right direction to become a potential contender.
