Sports India

Indian sports is in a daze, as Indian shooting fires away.

We have two world champions in Abhinav Bindra and Manavjit Singh Sandhu, crowned in a space of four days, when Indian shooting could not boast of even one in the last 58 years of its independent existence.

From the days of Maharaja Karni Singh winning the trap silver in the World championship at Cairo in 1962, Indian shooting has indeed come a long way.

Till the shotgun World championship at Nicosia, Cyprus, in 2003, Indian shooting had only four medals to show, including two at the junior level — a gold from Jaspal Rana in 1994 and a bronze by Rajkumari Dhodiya in 2002.

Of course, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, who won the bronze in the World championship, has gone on to become an Olympic silver medallist. He has perhaps further ignited the spirit of excellence among the fraternity.

India got some more medals from the World Championships in Croatia, and this time, it’s the men who have won a silver in the team event in trap.

The individual events are going on at present while Rajyavardhan Rathore double trap event is later this week.

India’s silver medal winning team in men’s trap consists of Manavjit Singh, Mansher Singh and Answar Sultan. The medal on Thursday takes India’s tally to five.

The only individual winner in the senior category with his gold in the air rifle event was Abhinav Bindra.

Jaspal Rana finished sixth in the 25-metre standard pistol with a 572 out of 600 in the World shooting championship on Wednesday.

Pistol prodigy Rana, who had shot into fame by winning the standard pistol gold in the junior event in 1994 with a junior world record, missed the medal by three points. He had scores of 192, 189 and 191 in the 150, 20 and 10 seconds series respectively.

The two other Indians in the fray Samaresh Jung (564) and Ronak Pandit (552) were unable to back Jaspal in the bid for a team medal and finished 26th and 50th respectively. The Indian team took the fifth place.

In the 10-metre air rifle junior women’s section, the Indian girls were unable to make an impact as Soudaminee Gavankar (391), Navdeep Dhillon (390) and Radhika Barale (388) took the 32nd, 36th and 57th spots respectively. The team finished eighth.

The results: 25m standard pistol: Men: 1. Liu Guohui (Chn) 577; 2. Jong Su Kim (Kor) 575; 3. Jakkrit Panichpatikum (Tha) 575; 6. Jaspal Rana 572; 26. Samaresh Jung 564; 50. Ronak Pandit 552. Team: 1. China 1715; 2. Russia 1711; 3. Ukraine 1706; 5. India 1688.

10m air rifle: Junior women: 1. Zhang Yi (Chn) 399; 2. Sena Lee (Kor) 397; 3. Yuriko Kaizuka (Jpn) 396; 32. Soudaminee Gavankar 391; 36. Navdeep Dhillon 390; 57. Radhika Barale 388. Team: 1. China 1183; 2. Korea 1179; 3. Germany 1178; 8. India 1169.

Indians put up disappointing performances in the 25 m standard pistol event with veteran Jaspal Rana and Commonwealth Games multiple gold medal winner Samresh Jung finishing sixth and 36th respectively at the World Shooting Championships in Zagreb, Croatia.

Jaspal shot a score of 572 with 192 (96,96) in the 150 sec, 189 (97,92) in the 20 sec and 191 (96,95) in the 10 sec series. Samresh finished with a score of 564 with 198 (98,100), 185 (90,95) in 20 sec and 181 (92,89) in the 10 sec series.

Ronak Pandit finished 50th with a score of 552 with 190 (98,92) in the 150 sec series, 187 (95,92) in the 20 sec and 175 (84,91) in 10 sec.

The gold in this event was won by Liu Guohui of China (577), silver went to Kim Jong Su of North Korea with a score of 575 (shoot off 46) while Jakkrit Panichpatikum of Thailand won the bronze with a score of 575 (shoot off 45).

Meanwhile, in the team event india finished fifth with a score of 1688. The gold was won by China (1715), silver was grabbed by Russia with a score of 1711 while Ukraine won the bronze with a score of 1706.

In the other events Manavjit Singh Sandhu finished sixth on the first day of the qualifiers for the men’s trap event. He shot a series of 25,24,24 to total 73.

The other Indians in the fray disappointed with Mansher Singh (72) and Anwer Sultan (72) finishing 13th and 14th respectively.

In the 50m 3 position rifle women elimination, Deepali Deshpande shot a score of 569 with prone 195 (98,97), standing 182 (89,93) and kneeling 192 (97,95). Kuheli Gangulee scord 564 with prone 193 (95,98), standing 182 (91,91) and kneeling 189 (95,94).

Indian shooters had a disappointing day at office as they returned empty handed in the standard pistol event at the 49th World Championships here on Wednesday.

Veteran Jaspal Rana shot a reasonable 572 and Commonwealth champion Samresh Jung scored an average 567 but young Ronak Pandit carded below-par 552 which put paid to the country’s hopes. Indian team returned with a total of 1691 points.

Rana was sixth in his event while Jung and Pandit were a distant 26th and 50th respectively as Indian finished fifth in the non-olympic event.

China won the top honours with a tally of 1715 through Liu Guohui (577), Jin Yongde (570), Liu Yadong (568) followed by Russia 1712 (574+570+568) and Ukrain 1706 (570+568+568).

Democratic People’s Republic was fourth with 1694 (575+565+554) points ahead of India.

“It was not so great a result for India today. Jaspal and Samresh were okay but Ronak shot a far too below his potential which affected the team’s tally,” coach Sunny Thomas said.

Manavjit Singh Sandhu, who has already secured his Olympic quota place for the 2008 Beijing event, however, was leading in men’s trap event after the first round.

Mansher Singh was also among the top scoreres

India’s Navnath Farthate won the gold medal in junior men’s air rifle event at the World Shooting Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, on Tuesday. He shot 596 out of 600 to become the second Indian junior ever to win a gold medal at the quadrennial event.

Jaspal Rana had won the gold as a junior in standard pistol in 1994.

This is India’s second gold in the championship after Abhinav Bindra won the 10m air rifle event on Monday.

India also won two bronze medals and two Olympic quota places so far from the ongoing championship.

Meanwhile, India’s up-and-coming shooter Avneet Kaur Sidhu earned an Olympic quota place despite finishing eighth in 10m Air Rifle women’s event at the ISSF World Shooting Championships in Zagreb.

Avneet recovered from a shaky start in the qualification round to fire three perfect 100s and tally 397 which earned her a chance to compete in the Beijing Olympics in 2008. In the final, she shot a score of 101.1 for a final tally of 498.1.

Avneet thus brought up India’s sixth quota place for the Beijing Olympics, with Rajyavardhan Rathore, Gagan Narang, Manavjit Sandhu, Anjali Bhagwat and Abhinav Bindra having also booked their places.

Tejaswini Sawant finished 23rd with a score of 394 while Deepali Deshpande was a distant 70th with a total of 390.

Du Li of China won the gold after managing 502.1 (398+104.1) while the silver was grabbed by former World champion Katerina Kurkova of the Czech Republic with a score of 501.8 (398+103.8). Olga Dovgun of Kazakhstan got the bronze, tallying 500.9 (398+102.9).

India’s fine run at the World Shooting Championships continued on Tuesday as Navnath Farthate won the boys’ 10-metre junior air rifle gold, a day after Abhinav Bindra and Avneet Kaur Sidhu booked berths for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Farthate shot 596/600 points to become the second Indian, after Jaspal Rana, to win a World Championship gold medal in the junior event, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) said.

Rana had won the gold in the standard pistol event in the 1994 edition of the competition.

So far India has won two gold medals - Bindra won the first one in the men’s 10m air rifle on Monday - and two bronze medals, in addition to the two quota places, in the ongoing competition. Bindra and Avneet have won the two quota places.

Overall, Avneet became the sixth Indian shooter to qualify for the 2008 Olympics when she finished eighth in the 10-metre air rifle event on Monday.

Her qualification came close on the heels of a similar feat that Bindra achieved in the men’s 10m air rifle a few hours before.

Avneet was fourth at the end of the qualifying round with a total of 397 points, after shooting 97, 100, 100 and 100.

And in the final she shot 10.2, 10.5, 10.0, 8.1, 9.9, 10.8, 10.7, 10.2, 10.1 and 10.6 for a total of 101.1 and a grand total of 498.1/500 to finish eighth.

India’s Tejaswini Sawant failed to qualify for the final and finished at a distant 23rd with 394/400 and Deepali Deshpande managed a poor 70th place (390/400) in the same event.

Bindra, double trap specialist Rajyawardhan Singh Rathore - who won the historic silver at the 2004 Athens Olympics Games - Anjali Bhagwat, Narang and Manavjit Singh Sandhu had earlier booked their Olympic berths.

A total of 44 Indians, including 15 juniors, are vying for several Olympics berths on offer at the championship.

There could be more qualifiers from India. Among the hopefuls is the Commonwealth Games hero Samresh Jung, who won seven medals, including five gold and one silver, in Melbourne in March

India’s Navnath Farthate won the gold medal in the junior men’s air rifle event at the World Shooting Championship here today.

He shot 596 out of 600 to become the second Indian junior ever to win a gold medal at the quadrennial event.

Jaspal Rana had won the gold as a junior in standard pistol in 1994.

This is India’s second gold in the championship after Abhinav Bindra won the 10m air rifle event yesterday.

India has also won two bronze medals and two Olympic quota places so far here.

Indian had won the first ever team medal in a junior competition on the opening day of the championship when they claimed the bronze in the air pistol event.

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Indian goldfingers are certainly on a roll. The latest confirmation comes from Abhinav Bindra who grabbed the gold medal in the men’s 10m air rifle at the 49th World Shooting Championships in Zagreb, Croatia. Bindra traded the leading position five times before beating stiff competition to take the first spot.

The nearest Indian shooters had come to hitting bull’s eye in the World Championship was in 1962 when Maharaja Karni Singh won the silver at Cairo. It wasn’t until Jaspal Rana won India’s first individual gold medal at the Hiroshima Asian Games in 1994, that the country’s ambitions were triggered, and Indians started confidently talking about winning medals. But alas, there doesn’t seem to be any support or sponsorship to match that confidence. Indian shooters clearly need to get more exposure and more competition. While in other nations a shooter takes part in scores of competitions each year, only a couple of competitions are organised here. In fact, if not for the backing of the Army, it’s doubtful if even Rajyavardhan Rathore could have done so well at the top level. India is yet to have a coach, and most of the time shooters fend for themselves in getting cartridges and other accessories. A national camp in Delhi was once actually cut short, as the Sports Authority of India (SAI) didn’t have the ammunition for participants!

It’d be a shame if nothing were done about the poor state of SAI’s three ranges that cater to 16 shooting events as they could cost India medals at the next Olympics. A lot now depends on the ‘Mission Olympics’ taken up by the Army to bring in modern equipment and set up new shooting ranges with electronic targets.

Indian goldfingers are certainly on a roll. The latest confirmation comes from Abhinav Bindra who grabbed the gold medal in the men’s 10m air rifle at the 49th World Shooting Championships in Zagreb, Croatia. Bindra traded the leading position five times before beating stiff competition to take the first spot.

The nearest Indian shooters had come to hitting bull’s eye in the World Championship was in 1962 when Maharaja Karni Singh won the silver at Cairo. It wasn’t until Jaspal Rana won India’s first individual gold medal at the Hiroshima Asian Games in 1994, that the country’s ambitions were triggered, and Indians started confidently talking about winning medals. But alas, there doesn’t seem to be any support or sponsorship to match that confidence. Indian shooters clearly need to get more exposure and more competition. While in other nations a shooter takes part in scores of competitions each year, only a couple of competitions are organised here. In fact, if not for the backing of the Army, it’s doubtful if even Rajyavardhan Rathore could have done so well at the top level. India is yet to have a coach, and most of the time shooters fend for themselves in getting cartridges and other accessories. A national camp in Delhi was once actually cut short, as the Sports Authority of India (SAI) didn’t have the ammunition for participants!

It’d be a shame if nothing were done about the poor state of SAI’s three ranges that cater to 16 shooting events as they could cost India medals at the next Olympics. A lot now depends on the ‘Mission Olympics’ taken up by the Army to bring in modern equipment and set up new shooting ranges with electronic targets.