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Aiming for bull's eye
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Top skeet shooter Amit Sanghi says India can top the medals tally at the 6th Commonwealth shooting championship
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"INDIA HAS a good chance to top the medals tally in the 6th Commonwealth shooting championships at Melbourne if our shooters perform as per expectations," feels Amit Sanghi, the country's top-ranked shooter in the skeet event. Amit, along with Gagan Narang and Mansher Singh, are the shooters from AP who have been selected to take part in the meet.
A couple of days before leaving for the Commonwealth championship, Amit told The Hindu Metroplus that a total of 37 of India's best shooters, including Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Zorawar Singh, Mansher Singh, Jaspal Rana, Gagan Narang and Anjali Bhagwat, to name a few, are in the line-up.
"Rathore's medal winning feat in the Athens Olympic Games has had a great effect on the morale and confidence of many Indian shooters. Now we all feel that if Rathore can do it, so can we," Amit says. "But we will have a tough fight from the host country which has some very good shooters in all the events. UK and Cyprus are the other strong countries. And the level of competition is such that I would not be surprised if a few other countries also throw up talented shooters who may upset all calculations," Amit reveals.
About his personal form, he said that due to frequent travel and business commitments, he had not been able to put in a lot of practice. As vice-president of Sanghi Spinners Ltd., Amit has to travel extensively for business reasons. And in this sport, every minute of missed practice makes a big difference in the final scores.
"Frankly, I think my preparation could have been better. I could not put in enough time on the range. In the skeet event, I am at present scoring within the range of 117 to 119 in practice. But I expect that in the Commonwealth meet, any shooter who hopes to get a medal would have to score a little more than that," says Amit and adds, "The first event will be the pairs shooting event. As India's number one, I will be paired with the number two Amardeep Rai and we will be performing as a team. Our average score will be taken into account to decide the final placing. After the pairs competition is over, my individual event will begin," he said.
"In our sport, the mental preparedness of a participant is as important as the physical and technical aspects. Right now, I have reached a level where I am quite confident about my technical skills and abilities. I feel that I do not need much help as far as the technique is concerned. But what I do need very much now is a coach who can guide me on the psychological aspects. And if I can get someone to help me in this area, my scoring will improve a lot more," Amit concludes.
ABHIJIT SEN GUPTA
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