Manu Bhaker, the only bright light on a gloomy day for Indian shooters

PARIS, JULY 27: Shooters lose by fine margins. Technique and mental conditioning are the other weapons in the armoury that usually separate them from the rest. In a competition like the Olympics, there is a third invisible force, just like quantum, called luck. More so, in shooting.

The bullet can spray by tenth of a millimetre off the centre but would be enough to slip out of the race. For some reason, this luck has been eluding Indian shooters at the Olympics. The day started with despair when the mixed team failed to qualify for the final and continued when the men faltered in the 10mair pistol individual round.

Manu Bhaker saved the day. The Immaculate form she is in raises hope for India in the 10n air pistol final on Sunday. Bhaker confessed that she has started to enjoy shooting and it was reflected in her scores. She had the maximum 10s. One hand tucked in the pocket, she was firing with confidence.

Bhaker, who shot 580 to finish third in the qualifications, was the only bright spot on a gloomy day. While conversing with this newspaper after the trials in Bhopal, Bhaker had said that she found joy in shooting.

“Whether I win or lose, I don’t take pressure anymore,” she said and her coming together with Jaspal Rana was the pivotal point in her Bhaker2.0 transformation.

The Austerlitz area, where the parade for the Opening Ceremony began, was unusually quiet in the wee hours of Saturday. Apart from a diversion of traffic, there was no trace of the event that ended just a few hours ago. The only common thread was the rain that poured even in the dawn. Two hundred and fifty kilometres away is Châteauroux, the venue of the shooting competition.

The beautiful countryside is untouched by the euphoria of the spectacular Ceremony. It is not until one reaches the shooting range, another half-an-hour drive from the Gare de Châteauroux, there is any indication that the Games are on.

India’s quest for a double-figure medal haul began at the shooting ranges on Saturday. There was anticipation as soon as a record number of 21 shooters qualified for the Olympics. The sport itself was looking for that moment of inspiration to end the medal drought at the Olympics.

There was hope and a good start was what India was looking forward to. The mixed teams on whom hope rested showed promise and even had a faint chance to qualify when they were fifth but slipped to sixth in the final standing.

Arjun Babuta and Pramita; Sandeep Singh and Elevanil V were touted among India’s medal hopes but by the time the qualification round ended, there was a sense of despair in the India camp.

The best pair Babuta and Pramita finished sixth after reaching fifth before the penultimate series.

The pressure of the Olympics is different. Babuta,Pramita and Sandeep too learnt in. So did Sarabjot Singh and Arjun Singh Cheema. Sarabjot slipped out of the qualification bracket for missing out on a point in the inner 10.

China’s Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao, the reigning world champions finished on top with a score of 632.2 while South Korea’s Keum Jihyeon and Hajun Park tallied 631.4. Kazakhstan’s Alexandra Le and Islam Satpayev (630.8) finished ahead of Germany’s Anna Janssen and Maximilian Ulbrich (629.7).

“We tried our best but were unfortunate to not qualify,” said Babuta. Others echoed him.

With the individual rounds just about a day later, the shooters are trying to keep the setback behind and move on. Failing in the first competition of course doesn’t give the necessary boost to excel and Babuta knows this.

He was quick to respond.

“We have trained for all scenarios,” he said. “We know what needs to be done and will have a round of discussion with my coach and will start concentrating on my next target.”

Pramita, who was listening to him intently, added that they knew what needs to be done.

Qualifying in the individual round begins on Sunday. But all eyes will be on the big final – 10m air pistol where Manu will be standing against some of the precision specialists. India can very well be among the medals on Sunday.

-The New Indian Express