The scores need to improve

KAMESH SRINIVASAN

THE place was steeped in history. The range was 110 years old. Some of the Indian shooters took the opportunity to add their names to the record books with world class performances that will linger in memory for long.

Abhinav Bindra and Anjali Vedpathak, who gave a good account of themselves in the Sydney Olympics, were expected to march ahead of the rest, and they did so in style, with reassuring consistency, accounting for five of the 13 gold medals that India won in the fourth Commonwealth shooting championship in Bisley, England.

The 18-year-old Abhinav had to compete in three events in air rifle over five days in two countries, including the World Cup finals in Munich, and he rose to the occasion, with a 594 in the climax which he topped with an incredible all 10s in the final. He made the Commonwealth Games champion, Christopher Hector of England, look a novice.

It was a class act by the 32-year-old Anjali in air rifle, though she was pushed hard by the rest of the pack. She shot a record-breaking 582 in the 50-metre sport rifle three-position event, which compared very encouragingly with her effort in the Olympics where she managed a mere 566. The CISF inspector from Mumbai actually repeated her effort of three golds and a silver, a similar feat she had achieved in the last edition in Auckland, to emphasise her skill.

Mansher Singh regained his classy touch with a fantastic effort in landing the gold ahead of the Olympic silver medallist, Ian Peel of England, in trap. The 35-year-old had gone through a phase when he failed to win an individual medal after the World Cup bronze in Delhi in 1997. There was no doubt about his ability, and he proved it beyond doubt with a 74 out of 75 on the second day, when he alone shot a 25 in the final.

The 48-year-old Harinder Singh Bedi shot a 99 out of 100 in skeet to bag the golden badge, but he was unable to rise to the same level in the individual event and understandably so. He shot a 118 out of 125, after missing the first bird, but could not make the final. With Saravdeep Singh Mann (115), Harinder had the consolation of meeting the Minimum Qualifying Score (MQS) for the Athens Olympics.

"The skeet shooters are beginning to get closer to winning the medals. They thought it was impossible earlier. We should have got the bronze here, but missed out despite having the same score. Mann could have shot a 22 with one hand, but he had a 20 in the last series. It was my fault, the medal slipped away," said coach Marcello Dradi, who was so disappointed that he could not sleep the whole night.

It was Mansher's majestic performance that brought the smile back on the face of Dradi, who had been hired to train the trap shooters, but is assisting the double trap and the skeet shooters as well.

Samresh Jung revealed nerves of steel in the air pistol event, especially in the final when he provided a brilliant fare to capture the gold. He erred with a last shot 6.5 in the 50-metre free pistol event that saw the gold slip away. He is bound to make further strides in the future.

Jaspal Rana was below par by his standards, especially in air pistol, but still ensured the gold medals in standard and centre fire pistol events, both individual and for the team. The 25-year-old had to go through anxious moments before beating Linda Ryan of Australia, in the standard pistol open event. The centre fire pistol team gold was won only after some suspense as England matched the Indians over 50 shots.

"If he puts his mind on the job, Jaspal is still one of the very best in the world," said coach Tibor Gonczol.

Mukesh Kumar and Poonam Kumar made the best of their maiden appearance in the international arena with the team gold in rapidfire pistol, and also claimed the individual silver and bronze. Ronak Pandit, the 16-year-old son of the seasoned shooter Ashok Pandit, stole the show with the golden badge during the team competition, but was unable to match the fare in the individual event. Experience should teach him the right tricks.

Satguru Das shot rounds of 593 in both the individual and team events, in the free rifle prone event, and that should augur well for his future. The 25-year-old will be an asset to the team, as he gains experience, especially in the finals where one needs special skills to excel.

A. P. Subbaiah was unable to defend his gold in the free rifle 3-position event, on a day when heavy rain and gusts of wind brought the scores down. Yet, Subbaiah showed his class to win the silver after being positioned in the third spot before the final.

Shilpi Singh shot very well in the air pistol event, matching her 380 shot during the World Cup in Milan. She defied the Olympic bronze medallist, Annemarie Forder of Australia, and denied her a look at the silver, though she failed to catch up with Linda Ryan of Australia for the gold.

As Abhinav Bindra pointed out, so appropriately, most of the Indian shooters put pressure on themselves by shooting late in the final. The lack of practice on electronic targets could be one major reason. Once they get over this handicap, shooters such as 21-year-old Shilpi Singh will put pressure on the rest of the pack.

It may be noted that Abhinav has a single-touch trigger, which the others are apprehensive to use. Most have a two-stage trigger, and that is perhaps one reason why the shots are delayed.

Anuja Tere could have claimed the air rifle silver but for a delayed last shot, which was a poor score as well, and she tumbled out of the medals bracket.

Kuheli Gangulee was struggling with her form, but wound up the show well with a bronze in the sport rifle prone event. She shot a 586 and one more point would have fetched her the gold. In fact, the CISF employee had rounds of 9.9, four of them in her last two series, and thus missed both the gold and the silver by 0.1 point.

Sushma Rana shot a quality final, when 'duelling' was introduced for the first time, to claim the sport pistol bronze. The talented sister of Jaspal will be able to do better in the future as there are a bunch of girls who are equally talented, but could not match their own standards this time. A healthy competition is the key to growth, and the Indian women do not need to look far for it.

The double trap shooters had trouble breaking the heavy clay birds with their cartridges, and it was a disappointment for Major Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore not to make the final, after having done well in the World Cup in Lonato and the Asian Clay championship in Bangkok. Dradi has a lot of faith in Rathore, and he is sure to live up to the expectations in future.

Arti Singh did well to take the bronze badge in skeet, but was unable to match the world class standards in the individual event. The 22-year-old, however, is sure to train hard for the World Cup finals to be held in October in Doha, to prove her worth. She had done quite well to finish fourth in the World Cup in Lonato, ahead of the Olympic champion, and there is no reason why Arti cannot rise to that level.

As coach Gonczol stressed, the dedicated bunch of shooters will be able to touch world standards more consistently if they are given the best support both in terms of infrastructure and ammunition.

In a highly technical sport, one needs the best equipment and ammunition to match the rest of the world. Otherwise, the best of the available talent cannot compete on equal terms with the best in the business.

"There have been some very good performances. But the scores have generally not been up to expected standards. The shooters know that, and that is why they are not too happy despite winning so many medals," said Prof. Sunny Thomas, the chief coach of the team.

If anything, the Commonwealth championship has provided the confidence for the Indian shooters, to look ahead for a bright future. They are not intimidated any more by world standards, for they know that they are capable of achieving the goals.

The Indian shooters are learning to compete, as much with themselves as with the rest of the world. That is a positive sign.

The results:Men:

Air pistol: 1. Samresh Jung 678.7 (578); 2. Michael Gault (Eng) 674.5 (576); 3. Craig Lambert (Aus) 673.8 (577); 8. Ved Prakash 661.8 (566); 11. Jaspal Rana 561.

50m free pistol: 1. David Porter (Aus) 653.7 (555); 2. Craig Lambert (Aus) 652.5 (555); 3. Michael Gault (Eng) 652.4 (562); 4. Samresh Jung 652.2 (559); 6. Ved Prakash 639.3 (547); 7. Vivek Singh 632.6 (537).

25m rapid fire pistol: 1. Metodi Igorov (Can) 670.0 (574); 2. Poonam Kumar 666.5 (574); 3. Mukesh Kumar 660.3 (569); 4. Ronak Pandit 658.3 (561).

Standard pistol: 1. Jaspal Rana 568; 2. Linda Ryan (Aus) 564; 3. Naresh Kumar 562; 4. Vivek Singh 560.

Centrefire pistol: 1. Jaspal Rana 583; 2. Stephen Pengelly (Wal) 575; 3. Greg Yelavich (NZ) 570; 4. Ved Prakash 569; 6. Naresh Kumar 568.

Air rifle: 1. Abhinav Bindra 696.8 (NMR, old 685.9) 594 (NMR, old 586); 2. Christopher Hector (Eng) 684.9 (586); 3. Charan Singh 684.6 (584); 4. Sameer Ambekar 682.4 (584).

50m free rifle prone: 1. Warren Potent (Aus) 695.6 (593); 2. David Phelps (Wal) 692.1 (590); 3. Neil Day (Eng) 691.5 (590); 6. Satguru Das 690.6 (593); 19. A. P. Subbaiah 583; 29. T. C. Palangappa 575.

50m free rifle 3-position: 1. Michael Brown (Aus) 1249.4 (1153); 2. A. P. Subbaiah 1235.8 (1136); 3. Benjamin Burge (Aus) 1232.6 (1139); 6. T. C. Palangappa 1233 (1128); 11. Charan Singh 1121.

Trap: 1. Mansher Singh 143; 2. Ian Peel (Eng) 141; 3. Nathan Cassells (Aus) 140; 11. Anwer Sultan 113; 12. Manavjit Singh Sandhu 113.

Double trap: 1. Richard Faulds (Eng) 191; 2. Nathan Cassells (Aus) 180; 3. Scott Wilson (NZ) 176; 6. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore 126; 9. Gaurav Sondhi 123; 14. Ronjan Sodhi 112.

Skeet: 1. Mike Thomson (Sco) 149 (2) (NMR, old 145); 2. Paul Wilson (NZ) 149 (1); 3. Richard Brickell 147; 11. Harinder Singh Bedi 118; 15. Saravdeep Singh Mann 115; 21. Hari Simran Singh Sandhu 110.

Team championship:

Air pistol: 1. England (Michael Gault 574, Nick Baxter 566) 1140; 2. Australia (Daniel Repacholi 568, David Porter 567) 1135; 3. India (Ved Prakash 568, Jaspal Rana 563) 1131.

50m free pistol: 1. India (Samresh Jung 556, Ved Prakash 544) 1100; 2. England (Michael Gault 544, Nick Baxter 540) 1084; 3. Australia (David Porter 538, Craig Lambert 535) 1073.

Rapidfire pistol: 1. India (Mukesh Kumar 558, Poonam Kumar 556) 1114; 2. Australia (Aaron Ryder 557, William Crossman 549) 1106; 3. England (Peter Clark 563, Dean Werner 533) 1096.

Standard pistol: 1. India (Jaspal Rana 571, Naresh Kumar 547) 1118; 2. Australia (Linda Ryan 556, Daniel Repacholi 552) 1108; 3. Scotland (Bob Carroll 546, Jim Cairns 540) 1086.

Centrefire pistol: 1. India (Jaspal Rana 574, Naresh Kumar 565) 1139; 2. England (Peter Flippant 566, Peter Clark 563) 1129; 3. Australia (Daniel Repacholi 565, Craig Lambert 552) 1117.

Air rifle: 1. India (Abhinav Bindra 590, Charan Singh 586) 1176 (NMR, old 1164); 2. Wales (John Croydon 581, Andrew Lawrence 577) 1158; 3. England (Christopher Hector 581, Paul Batten 574) 1155.

50m free rifle prone: 1. New Zealand (Lindsay Arthur 592, Sean McCabe 591) 1183; 2. England (Michael Babb 593, Neil Day 590) 1183; 3. India (Satguru Dass 593, A. P. Subbaiah 588) 1181.

Free rifle 3-position: 1. Scotland (Martin Sinclair 1127, Donald McIntosh 1123) 2250; 2. Australia (Michael Brown 1124, Benjamin Burge 1117) 2241; 3. South Africa (Daniel Gideon Henn 1138, Corne Matthys Basson 1102) 2240; 4. India (A. P. Subbaiah 1121, T. C. Palangappa 1109) 2230.

Trap: 1. England (Christopher Dean 96, Ian Peel 96) 192; 2. Australia (Benjamin Kelley 95, Nathan Cassells 93) 188; 3. Northern Ireland (David Beattie 97, Tom Allen 90) 187; 5. India (Mansher Singh 93, Manavjit Singh Sandhu 86) 179.

Double trap: 1. England (Richard Faulds 94, John Bellamy 93) 187; 2. Australia (Nathan Cassells 90, Rocky Manno 79) 169; 3. South Africa (Hary Papa 80, Nico Swart 79) 159; 5. India (R. V. S. Rathore 80, Gaurav Sondhi 74) 154.

Skeet: 1. Scotland (Mike Thomson 97, Ian Marsden 96) 193 (50); 2. England (Richard Brickell 97, Andrew Austin 96) 193 (49); 3. Australia (George Barton 96, Barty Brighenti 92) 188 (48); 4. India (Harinder Singh Bedi 99, Saravdeep Singh Mann 89) 188 (44).

Women:

Air pistol: 1. Linda Ryan (Aus) 479.0 (381); 2. Shilpi Singh 475.2 (380); 3. Anemarie Forder (Aus) 473.4 (377); 4. Sonia Rana 466.5 (370); 6. Shweta Chaudhary 463.7 (368).

25m sport pistol: 1. Linda Ryan (Aus) 681.6 (NMR, old 675.8) 581 (NMR, old 574); 2. Pam McKenzie (Aus) 663.1 (566); 3. Sushma Rana 659.0 (560); 4. Saroja Kumari 656.1 (556); 11. Shweta Chaudhary 539.

Air rifle: 1. Anjali Vedpathak 496.1 (395); 2. Louise Minett (Eng) 493.8 (394); 3. Susan McCready (Aus) 493.3 (391); 4. Anuja Tere 493.0 (393); 6. Meena Kumari 488.3 (387).

50m sport rifle prone: 1. Linda Smallbone (Eng) 587; 2. Susan Linsdell (Aus) 586; 3. Kuheli Gangulee 586; 18. Raj Kumari 579; 23. Anuja Tere 564.

Sport rifle 3-position: 1. Anjali Vedpathak 676.2 (NMR, old 670.8) 582 (NMR, old 573); 2. Susan McCready (Aus) 670.6 (575); 3. Kuheli Gangulee 665.0 (573); 4. Anuja Tere 663.8 (568).

Skeet: 1. Sofia Miaouli (Cyp) 96; 2. Elena Little (Eng) 95; 3. Natalia Rahman (Aus) 94; 6. Arti Singh 82.

Team championship:

Air pistol: 1. Australia (Linda Ryan 376, Annemarie Forder 375) 751; 2. India (Sonia Rana 375, Shilpi Singh 374) 749; 3. England (Carmella Dale 368, Helen Preston 365) 733.

Sport pistol: 1. Australia (Linda Ryan 580, Pam McKenzie 560) 1140 (NMR, old 1132); 2. India (Saroja Kumari 552, Sushma Rana 545) 1097; 3. Sri Lanka (Shymamali Wijesooriya 547, Ruwani Abeymanme 518) 1065.

Air rifle: 1. India (Anjali Vedpathak 394, Anuja Tere 393) 787; 2. Australia (Susan McCready 394, Susannah Smith 391) 785; 3. England (Louise Minett 393, Rebecca Spicer 384) 777.

50m sport rifle prone: 1. Scotland (Susan M. Jackson 586, Barbara E. Mackay 582) 1168; 2. Wales (Ceri Dallimore 83, Johanne Brekke 580) 1168; 3. New Zealand (Denva Galloway 583, Juliet Etherington 578) 1161; 4. India (Raj Kumari 582, Kuheli Gangulee 578) 1160.

Sport rifle 3-position: 1. Australia (Susannah Smith 574, Susan McCready 559) 1133 (NMR, old 1129); 2. India (Anjali Vedpathak 573, Kuheli Gangulee 557) 1130; 3. England (Rebecca Spicer 574, Claire Griffin 540) 1114.

Skeet: 1. England (Susan Bramley 45, Ellen Little 42) 87; 2. New Zealand (Melanie Bryant 43, Carey Goodwin 40) 83.

THEY won 27 medals, including 13 golds, but the Indian shooters are not overwhelmed by the favourable flow. As the team left for home from the Heathrow airport, there was a distinct feeling, not just among the coaches but the shooters as well, that the scores need to improve.

It is, however, a fact that Australia and England cornered more medals than India, though lesser number of golds, which should prove that it has not exactly been a picnic for the Indian contingent in the fourth Commonwealth shooting championship.

While India ended up with its best ever tally of 13 golds, six silvers and eight bronzes for a total of 29, Australia had 11 golds, 14 silvers and 11 bronze to take the second position with 36 medals.

Host England followed third with seven golds, 12 silvers and 10 bronze medals for a haul of 29 medals. Scotland, Northern Ireland, New Zealand, Canada, Cyprus, Wales, South Africa, Isle of Man and Sri Lanka accounted for 27 other medals including nine golds, proving the spread of talent in the region.

It may be noted that in the last edition in Auckland in 1999, Australia had topped with 18 golds, 11 silvers and 13 bronze medals for a whopping total of 42, mainly because of the running target events, which were not part of the programme this time. India had won 10 golds, eight silvers and seven bronze medals then. England and New Zealand had 21 and 28 medals respectively, with 10 golds for the former and six for the latter.

"We have won medals in almost every event. The scores, however, are less than what our shooters are capable of. They are a dedicated and talented bunch. If they get suitable facilities and ammunition to train, they will win the medals in the Commonwealth Games, where the field will be bigger and stronger," said Tibor Gonczol, the coach of the Indian team.

The chief coach of the Indian team Prof. Sunny Thomas echoed the sentiments, and stated that the medals would make everyone happy, but he would have been happier with better scores, going by the training during the Bangalore preparatory camp.

Looking at the 85 medals including 35 golds from a competition in four editions, the medals may look to be easy-picking, but there is no doubt that the Indian shooters have been improving, to match world standards over the years. The Commonwealth championship has been the confidence-boosting ground for bigger achievements.

The lack of sheen in the medals notwithstanding, there have been some world class performances from the Indian camp, which point to better prospects in future. Abhinav Bindra and Anjali Vedpathak delivered the medals, with a high-quality fare, asserting their standard beyond doubt.

The fact that Mansher Singh has rediscovered his form with the trap gold, beating the Olympic silver medallist Ian Peel at his backyard, should be a great source of inspiration for the shotgun shooters. Harinder Singh Bedi winning the golden badge with a 99 out of 100, though the Indian team missed the medal after being tied, was indeed difficult to digest for coach Marcello Dradi.

"The shotgun shooters have done very well. We are seeing the old Mansher of 1995, though we can't expect him to shoot the same scores, because the speed of the birds have increased. I can say with confidence that there will be four shotgun shooters, including one from double trap who will win quota places for the Olympics in Athens," said Dradi, who reassured that he would continue to train the Indian team despite the financial problems, for he would not like to run away from the challenge.

Samaresh Jung caught the eye with his spectacular shooting in the air pistol final, after a modest 578 in the preliminary phase. He could have got the 50-metre free pistol gold as well, but for a poor last shot.

"In the air pistol final, Samaresh shot brilliantly. That performance could find a place even in the Olympics. It was a classy effort," said Gonczol, not quite known for liberal compliments.

Shilpi Singh's was another fine effort in the women's air pistol event, when she followed a 380 with a decent final to deny the silver to the Olympic bronze medallist, Annemarie Forder of Australia.

"I could have won the gold," said Shilpi, quite clearly reflecting the urge in the Indian camp to look for bigger things, rather than be satisfied with what had been achieved.

Jaspal Rana shot below his best most of the time, but landed the medals as usual, with a 571 in standard pistol team event, proving his class. It is another matter that he had to really snatch the standard pistol open gold from the hands of Linda Ryan of Australia, the woman who stole the show in a few events.

If Jaspal Rana had to fight a woman shooter to assert his class, one can imagine the plight of the less-resourceful shooters. The missed medals tell their own stories of the standard of the Commonwealth championship, something that all the medals won may not be able to convey.

A string of fresh participants, new to the international arena, have done well to make a good beginning. Poonam Kumar, Mukesh Kumar, Satguru Das, Ronak Pandit, Naresh Kumar along with Meena Kumari, Raj Kumari have made their first steps with different degrees of assurance.

The Indian team is set to reassemble by the end of September for a short preparatory stint for the SAF Games. The Indian shooters, will have a string of important competitions next year in the form of the Commonwealth Games, the Asian Games, the Asian Championship, the four World Cups and the World Championship.

"We need to start preparing hard now. If we start next year, it may be too late to get the quota places for the Olympics.

"We like to believe that the attitude of the authorities towards the sport would change in the near future. The Indian shooters need to be backed to excel in the international arena, for there is no doubt about their potential, and any investment would be worth it," said Gonczol.

Those who were beaten have not liked it one bit. There is no room for complacency. The medals will not take one forward, only better scores can. The shooters understand it well, and that is why they are not overjoyed even with 27 medals. If some managed to shoot world class scores, it was with higher quality ammunition bought with their own money.

To that extent, the medals have been well and truly earned.