The Hindu : Sport / Shooting : Shooters aim for World Cup berths

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 14, 2006
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Shooters aim for World Cup berths

Kirti Patil

INDORE: The gruelling shooting schedule has Indore as a setting for the next 10 days. Having arrived from the 15th Asian Games in Doha with a record collection of 14 medals including three gold, the shooters will now aim at winning berths for next year's World Cup.

The 50th National shooting championship gets underway at the Reoti Ranges near here on Thursday with the golden jubilee edition serving as the selection tournament for the all-important pre-Olympic year. So far, Indian shooters have bagged six quota places for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The major chunk of the quotas will, however, be up for grabs in 2007 with Fort Benning in the U.S., Sydney, Bangkok and Munich being the four venues for rifle and pistol shooters to earn Olympic spots.

"We have to decide on the teams by this month end as international action begins in January with the air open shooting championship in Hungary," said the National coach Prof. Sunny Thomas. The World Cup action begins at Fort Benning in early March. India's excellent surge in shooting — from two bronze medals in 2002 Busan Asian Games to three gold, five silver and six bronzes in Doha — has a story of dedication, endless practice and series of international participation. In Indore, most of the Asian Games contingent will again take to the ranges to fine tune their technique.

Narang pulls out

Rifle shooter Gagan Narang, will, however, take a break to nurse his right shoulder that absorbs all the recoils from his rifle. Also missing will be the pistol star Jaspal Rana. The gifted shooter had returned from nowhere to strike three gold medals at Doha with a world record equalling feat in the centre-fire pistol to boot. Rana returned from Doha with the shooting squad to a rapturous welcome in the capital, but has decided to fly out again after he was named the `Best Sportsperson of the Asian Games' and receive the award during the closing ceremony on Dec.15.

The rifle and pistol Nationals here will be the last of the seven notified events for the shooters to earn points and be among the best. Samresh Jung, the golden boy at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, had a subdued Asian Games as he failed to get any individual medal.

"My scores were good in practice at the Karni Singh Ranges before leaving for the Asian Games, but probably I was too much under pressure to perform following my Melbourne exploits," said Jung. At the Nationals, Jung will try to get back to his own self at the very ranges wherein he struck the most medals when Indore hosted the championships in 2004.

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