Shooters excel in Asian Games but Olympics will be the real test

Indian shooters made a huge statement at the Asian Games, scripting a trail of success and returning home with an unprecedented 22 medals, the country's best ever showing in the continental showpiece.

There was a feeling of invincibility every time Indian shooters took their designated spots on the ranges and matched their Chinese counterparts shot for shot.

With a tally like that -- six gold, nine silver and six bronze -- everyone can be proud of the achievements of the band of young shooters such as Rudrankksh Patil, Esha Singh, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, to name a few.

Following the bumper harvest at the Asian Games, expectations of stellar performances at the 2024 Paris Olympics will grow, given that medals at the quadrennial global showpiece are the only ones that remain etched in the collective memory of the nation.

To achieve those goals, and also to erase the memories of Indian marksmen returning empty-handed from the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Games, a lot still needs to be done

Rifle marksman Abhinav Bindra's top-podium finish at the 2008 Beijing Olympics still remains the only gold in shooting so far, and the Hangzhou showing would have fanned the country's desire for a few heroic efforts in Paris.

But unlike the Asian Games, where contingents are selected by the respective sports federations, at the Olympics every athlete has to qualify -- and that is where the biggest challenge lies.

DISCONCERTING NEWS

A total of 15 shooters had qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and so far for Paris, only seven Indians have earned quota places for the country, but none of them is in pistol events.

This indeed is disconcerting news.

India's performance in Hangzhou might be creditworthy but viewed in the perspective of the Olympics, a lot still needs to be done on this count.

Also, of the six gold India won in Hangzhou, five came in team events. Team events were included in the Asian Games curriculum in this edition after missing out in the 2018 Jakarta Games, which only had the individual and mixed events.

Team events, barring mixed team, are not part of the Olympic curriculum, the ISSF World Cups or the Asian Championships. They are only part of the Asian Games (that too at the discretion of the organisers) and the World Championships, which is one of the Olympic qualifying events.

But even at the World Championships, only individual performances -- and not team -- earn shooters Olympic quota places.

The upcoming Asian Championships in Changwon, South Korea (October 22-Nov 2) -- an Olympic qualifying event -- will give a final count of the number of shooters India will send to Paris. Hopefully, there would be a few pistol shooters as well.

RIFLE SHOOTERS TO THE FORE

While the performance of pistol shooters was creditworthy, their rifle counterparts were at a different level altogether.

Led by the young Punjab shooter Sift Kaur Samra, who bagged the women's 50m rifle 3 positions gold, most of them brought individual glory.

Sift, who has already qualified for the Olympics and will be a medal contender in Paris, shot a world record score in Hangzhou, while several other rifle shooters excelled in their respective events.

With five of the seven Olympic quota places earned by the country being bagged by rifle shooters -- Rudrankksh Patil (men's 10m air rifle), Swapnil Kusale (men's 50m rifle 3 positions), Akhil Sheoran (men's 50m rifle 3 positions), Mehuli Ghosh (women's 10m air rifle) and Sift Kaur Samra (women's 50m rifle 3 positions) -- they are certainly in a better place going to Changwon, where the pressure of winning an Olympic quota place will be off their minds.

The onus is now on pistol shooters likes Esha Singh, Manu Bhaker, Rhythm Sangwan, Palak Gulia in women's section and Arjun Singh Cheema, Sarabjot Singh, Shiva Narwal in men's to make the most of their Asian Games success and earn Paris quota places in Changwon.