New Delhi: When the shooting contingent left India, there was expectation and apprehension surrounding their chances at the Paris Olympics. Having drawn a blank at two successive Olympics – Rio and Tokyo – kept everyone in the shooting fraternity on the edge.

India was sending its biggest contingent ever – 21 shooters qualified for the Olympics. The performance at the 2023 Asian Games was heartening but there were doubts whether the youngsters could deliver on the biggest stage.

But what happened at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre could well be a game-changer for the sport in the country. The shooters ended the barren run by winning three bronze medals from seven finals in what was the best showing by Indian shooters at the Olympics (in terms of consistency). Manu Bhaker – mature and confident after her Tokyo Olympics heartbreak – was razor sharp as she won two bronze medals – air pistol individual, and mixed with Sarabjot Singh. She also finished fourth in 25m sports pistol.

Swapnil Kusale showed a calm temperament to shoot down bronze in the tough 50m rifle three positions. Arjun Babuta came close to a podium finish in men’s air rifle, missing out after finishing fourth. The skeet mixed team of Anant Jeet Singh Naruka and Maheshwari Chauhan lost to the Chinese pair by one hit in the bronze play-off. Others came close to qualifying – be it Sarabjot in air pistol, Elavenil Valarivan in air rifle or Aishwarya Pratap Tomar in 3P.

All in all, the performance of the shooting team kept the Indian flag flying.

“A lot went into the preparation of the team after the Tokyo Olympics,” says Suma Shirur, chief coach of the air rifle team. The Tokyo experience served as the foundation of their preparation for Paris.

“We considered a lot of things needed to change and put a system in place which is athlete-centric, coach-driven and supported by administration,” she says.

Use of sports science, hiring a high performance director, focus on mental training, strength and conditioning, nutrition, and fostering a team environment – all things were gone into in microscopic detail. Beijing Olympics champion Abhinav Bindra was roped in by National Rife Association of India (NRAI) as mentor to prepare and motivate the shooters.

The lesson from Tokyo was that preparation for the Olympics should be fool proof and anything and everything that can go wrong on the big stage needed to be underlined and worked upon.

“The introduction of Olympic selection trials and removing all the bonus points to create a level-playing field played an important role. Before Tokyo we were doing so well, we were on top of the world rankings. Then there was a gap because of Covid; somewhere the selection did not take into consideration the latest form of athletes,” says Shirur, who was also part of the national coaching set up in Tokyo.

Though the open nature of trials this time was such that some of the world beaters -- 2022 world champion Rudrankksh Patil, worlds medallist Mehuli Ghosh, and Akhil Sheoran and Divyansh Panwar – failed to make it to the team. India was ready to bite the bullet and backed its selection process.

“Yes it (trials) was challenging for the athletes but they came out with great performances and the results were encouraging. Athletes looked really hungry and prepared. They were in good shape physically and mentally going into the Games.”

The determination to prove themselves was seen at the range. At Tokyo only one shooter – Saurabh Chaudhary – qualified for the final – more and more shooters were putting themselves in reckoning for the final from the qualifying stages in France.

“In every team meeting we kept reinforcing the importance of staying with the process, and staying in the present moment. It was important to leave the ghosts of Tokyo behind. Mental training and mental warm-ups before matches helped. Yoga, deep breathing, meditation – these are all activities we do – but adding these things as part of the routine and developing it into a habit helped them focus,” says the Olympian.

The NRAI allowing shooters to have personal coaches on board added to their preparation while maintaining a positive team environment as well. Bhaker had her personal coach Jaspal Rana by her side in France. Deepali Deshpande had four of her trainees in the team, with Kusale striking a medal. The success can only drive the growth of shooting in the near future.

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