Bindra, Gagan set to lead India's fortunes

Beijing Olympic Games gold medallist Abhinav Bindra and world record holder Gagan Narang will be the cynosure of all eyes as the famed Indian shooting squad kicks off its campaign in the 19th Commonwealth Games in New Delhi on Tuesday.

-Commonwealth Games

The duo will represent the hosts in the 10m air rifle event, before world champion Tejeswani Sawant, who had won two gold medals in air rifle in the previous edition in Melbourne, and Lajja Goswami take a shot at glory in the 50m 3 position event later in the day.

In between, Deepak Sharma and Omkar Singh will try their luck in 50m free pistol event, while Rahi Sarnobat and Anisa Sayyed will compete in 25m pitol for women.

"Gagan and Abhinav are two top class performers and going by their past records, we should not have much difficulty winning a medal in air rifle," said national coach Sunny Thomas, before adding, "But shooting is very unpredictable, so we just can't sit back and predict who will win or will not."

Narang is a world record holder - he scored 600 out of 600 during his unparalleled record-winning feat - in air rifle event.

Indian shooting has been on the ascendancy ever since the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002, where the team won 24 medals, before bettering the mark four years later in Melbourne, winning a record 27 medals.

The bunch, that overflows with talent, is raring to do one better this time around, but, according to Thomas, it takes years and years of hard work to improve.

"We know that India's best chance of winning maximum number of medals is shooting but the rising expectations are bound to put a lot of pressure on our shooters.

"We won 24 medals in Manchester but it took us four years to make it 27 and it will take a Herculean effort to make it 28 this time," Thomas, who has been at the helm of Indian shooting for the past 17 years said.

Thomas might be a bit skeptical going into the competition, but he certainly is not low on confidence.

With the likes of Bindra, world champions Sawant and Manavjit Singh, world record holder in double-trap Ronjan Sodhi and the man who has won the maximum number of World Cup medals for the country, Narang, in the line-up, Thomas has, at his disposal, a top-fligt team.

"From five medals - three gold and two silver - in 1994 to 24 in Manchester and then 27 in Melbourne, it's a huge achievement. It's difficult when you look at those numbers but it should not be a big problem, winning more medals than the previous two editions. I'm confident that our shooters will rise to the occasion in front of home crowd," the shooting coach said.

The shooting team too is confident it can exceed expectations, and is targeting at least a second-place finish on the medals standings, as India hosts the event for the first time.

Narang, who won four gold medals in Melbourne, has tuned himself to be at his best in air rifle, after a preparatory phase, which he described as "quite strong".

The rifleman is aiming for six gold medals and a shot at the David Dixon award for the best athlete of the Commonwealth Games. Narang's good friend Jung had won the award at the previous edition.

Bindra, too, will be itching to do what he did in Beijing two years ago, while Jung, nicknamed named 'Gold Finger' after he had won five yellow metals in Melbourne, will look to leave a mark again, this time in front of home crowd.

As far as Ronjan Sodhi is concerned, it was his failure to make it to the Beijing-bound Olympic squad that spurred him to a World Cup gold medal in Turkey recently, and a berth in the CWG squad.

It's a golden opportunity for the genial shooter, who beat a field that included World and Olympic champions on his way to gold medal in Turkey. And he is not going to, at any cost, miss out on a medal in front of an expectant home crowd.