Rathore loses his lucky gun on return
New Delhi, May 25: Ace marksman Rajyavardhan Rathore might have won himself an Olympic quota berth by winning the ISSF double-trap world championship in Cairo, but the Olympic silver medallist did not have such a happy homecoming.
Rathore lost his prized Perazzi gun after the airline on which he was travelling from Cairo to Delhi misplaced the weapon.
A gun is not normal baggage. Losing a gun at an airport means it is a security issue,” Rathore said.
“It’s strange for the airlines to say they don’t know where the gun is, because all baggage is tagged and computerised and can be traced.”
Incidentally, ten days ago, trap shooter Ronjan Birendeep Sodhi too lost his gun while travelling on the very same airline and is still to locate it.
The loss of the gun has put a dampner on Rathore’s preparation and participation in the ISSF World Cup in Germany from June 11.
With the coveted World Shooting Championship starting July, Rathore will need to adjust to his new gun quickly.
“It’s like a fingerprint, no gun is exactly the same as the other. In any case, I came from Cairo to take a break, and I don’t have the time to run around.”
Rathore will begin the documentation work for the import license of the new weapon tomorrow a process that could take up to a month. Clearance for the import will cost about Rs four lakh.
“Thankfully, the manufacturer has two guns with the same specifications in store,” Rathore said.