NAGOYA: After drawing blank in individual events on Thursday, India duo makes second chance count to corner glory in 10m mixed team event; this is India's first yellow metal in shooting in ongoing Games
Attack and defence in shooting? Bewildered? If taken out of context, those can be the craziest words in a sport where everything depends on staying calm. But, at the Asian Games in Nagoya, those were the words often used by the shooting coaches, especially in pistols.
The Indian pistol shooters had endured a tough start. Pellets were sprayed all over the targets during the 10m air pistol qualification round. Both Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet had failed to even make the final of their individual events. Disappointment was in the air, especially for Kamaljeet who comfortably placed in the top-three at one stage then.
But on Friday, the two shooters turned defence into attack and captured gold in the 10m air pistol mixed team event. This was the event's debut at the Asian Games.
Neither shooter wasted any time in getting over their individual blues. Suruchi had slept for 13 hours after that horrendous finish. She has the ability to shoot 580s even in her sleep. One bad day and years of preparation and sacrifices evaporates.
If her performance was a shocker, Kamaljeet's was even more astonishing. He was leading and then slipped when he was almost assured of a place in the final. Something inside him sank. "I thought my Asian Games were over," he said. But then he was given a lifeline when the team management informed him that he would be part of the mixed team. He could not sleep after that, visualising his road to redemption. "I slept around 1.30am thinking about the event," he said.
The drive to the picturesque Aichi Prefecture Shooting range is like a pilgrimage, almost akin to trekking to a surreal Buddhist shrine on top of a hill. Oaks and Japan's iconic cherry trees adorn the route to the range. The beauty can be distracted but at the same time, soothing, especially after a bad day. Maybe, it was the scenery that put Suruchi and Kamaljeet — both hail from Haryana — back in their groove.
Both shooters are unlikely gold medallists. Kamaljeet was a sprinter but had to give that up after a left knee injury while Suruchi dabbled with wrestling. Both were making their Games debut and have been part of the national team for the last few years or so.
Mental fortitude
Shooting is usually all in the head. The pistol and the target are just extensions of the mind. Their coach Samaresh Jung explained that Suruchi was walking in the dark during her individual events. She was struggling even during sighting, a ritual that shooters perform before the actual act.
"We need to know when to attack and when to defend," explained Samaresh, who's the India pistol head coach. "Defensive (being) usually is not good. That's why we warn our shooters. When you shoot a low score, you tend to try and rectify that and start making more mistakes. Instead, you have to attack — shoot fast."
Suruchi confirmed that is what happened to her. "In the individual series, I was under a lot of tension as I was looking at the scores," she said. "I was not able to release the trigger," she said. "I normally finish in 35 minutes and this time I did in 1.13 hrs."
"One has to let go of the bad shots," said Samaresh. "Tha, tha, tha… just concentrate on the process and shoot. Forget the previous shots." Sage advice, but it's not the easiest to put into action.
But that is exactly what Suruchi did. A conversation with her mother put her in a better frame of mind, giving her confidence and hope. The coaches and mental trainers chipped in with their bit, allowing her to be in a comfortable space. "At this stage it is not technical, it's mental. We speak more about controlling the mind," said Samaresh.
"I was very sad and broken," said Suruchi. "My mother called me and she told me 'what has happened, has happened. Change the future'. Even the coach said that these things happen and I have to let it go."
That is exactly what she did. She rested and rested. By Friday, she was thinking differently. "I thought it was a matter of just 30 shots, so let's just do it."
Suruchi is all of 20 and Kamaljeet is 23. Yet on the station, Suruchi was leading with better shots, most in 10s and high 10s.
Kamaljeet's recovery was short. If Suruchi got hours to sleep, Kamaljeet had to recover in less than 18 hours. At night he kept tossing about in his bed. He was not able to sleep until 1.30am.
"I was disappointed when I didn't qualify for the individual final," he said. "I had started very well, but 2-3 shots in between affected me and I wasn't able to get stable mentally. I finished okay, but I scored 580 and the final closed at 581. So, I was sad that I couldn't go through and as a team, we couldn't win a medal as well."
He thought he would return home empty-handed. But after his individual match, the coach told him that he would be part of the mixed team as well. "I got a second chance, and I wanted to make the most of it," he said.
He certainly did make it count. So did Suruchi, handing India pistol team its first gold in the ongoing edition of the Games.
