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I will do my best, says Rathore

Kamesh Srinivasan

JAIPUR: In the normal course, Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore would breeze through this field to claim the gold. For, the 37-year-old Athens Olympics silver medalist, it is not a priority for him any more. It is understandable, as he is focussing on striking it big in the Beijing Olympics.

“The focus is to excel at the higher level,” said Rathore, after a training session at the Jagatpura Range here on Sunday.

There are only four doubetrap shooters from Asia who have qualified for the Beijing Olympics. Two of them had won medals in the Athens Games. However, Rathore will be the only one to shoot in the Asian Clay Championship here on Monday.

“I don’t shy away from these competitions. I will do my best,” said Rathore, even as he picked compatriot Ronjan Sodhi to make the best use of the platform on hand.

Despite a commendable fare through the season last year, Ronjan has been unlucky to miss the Olympic quota and would be keen to strengthen his case for a possible hardship quota for the Beijing Games, with a good fare here.

He had lost the gold on the tie-shoot in the last edition to the Athens bronze medalist Hu Binuyan of China.

Saif Al-Shamsy of the UAE, likely to go to the Olympics if Ahmed Almaktoum pulls out, will be the one to watch.

Hamad Almarri of Qatar apart from Rashed Almanee and Mashifi Al-Mutairi of Kuwait are some of the other shooters capable of hitting the gold on their day.

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