India's ace pistol shooter, Heena Sidhu, believes mixed team shooting leads to more responsibility and is easier on the nerves than individual competitions. She and Jitu Rai paired up to defeat a Russian pair, to clinch the 10m air pistol mixed team event at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle / Pistol championship in Gabala, Azerbaijan.
Staging a shooting event featuring female and male shooters from the same nation is an innovation by the ISSF aimed at pulling the spotlight towards certain events in pistol, rifle and skeet. Mixed events are still in experimental stage as the ISSF drives forwards to introducing steps to enhance gender equality.
The plan is to try out mixed pairs as test events, before confirming it as a medal event in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
India’s highest ranked women 10m pistol shooter (15th as per ISSF list) said: “Mixed team shooting is less stressful than an individual event. When you are performing for yourself, the focus is on you. When you have a partner, I feel you tend to think less about your own score and more about what you can do together for the country.”
The sport of shooting is moving towards reducing gender inequality by having female and male shooters competing as one team, since the skills involved in the sport are the same for both genders. Asked if the women competitors were likely to get a boost out of outscoring the male partners (joint scores are taken into consideration), Heena explained: “There is no question of getting a kick out of bettering (a male partner). It is about performing as a team. It is useful if both shooters are of a certain level. If the woman is shooting high scores and the man's scores are low, it can be a problem.”
She added: “It happened with the Iranians at Azerbaijan. The woman shot 10's and the man cracked under pressure. They could have won, in the end they finished fourth. We felt sorry for the woman.”
The two-time Olympian, was of the view that women are capable in other fields also. “Especially in our country, where a woman discharges other roles, as a wife, mother or daughter, she can do as well (as the man) when given opportunities.”
The mixed team air pistol first place is a boost for Indian medal prospects in future, since both also qualify as individual events. Asked if the Azerbaijan success was the outcome of rapport built with Jitu during training and tournaments, she pointed out: “Jitu is a silent person, an introvert by nature. I am familiar with his shooting, not so familiar with him on a personal level. We may have to train together more frequently to build on the results so far.”
The Indian Army marksman won individual pistol golds in 10m AP (2014 World Cup), 50m pistol golds (2014 Commonwealth Games, 2014 Asian Games).
Both shooters train under different coaches - Heena under husband Ronak Pandit and Jitu under Pavel Smirnov). Sidhu feels adjusting to change is inevitable. “Shooting is no longer a silent sport where participants compete in isolation. Music was played in the range during the Rio Games. Now the ‘hit or miss’ format has come in to make it easier for fans to follow the scoring. I feel if the competition timings are shifted from the early morning slot to sometime later in the day coinciding with office lunch breaks, fans coming to the range or watching (the sport) on TV can increase. Every sport needs the numbers to survive.”
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