Asian Games shooting: NRAI review’s focus on finals, scoring consistency

New Delhi: The performance of the Indian shooting contingent in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games was not as impressive as it was three years ago at the Hangzhou Games. In some disciplines like air pistol it was below par, and but for the mixed team gold, the scenario would have been rather bleak. Eventually, Neeru Dhanda’s outstanding trap gold medal win saved the day.

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has begun a review of the performance at the Asian Games.

Some of the things under scrutiny in the review are the drop in scores of certain shooters—far below the average they were shooting in trials and competitions—and the conversion rate in the finals.

There was a shortfall of seven medals from the 2023 Asian Games, where India won 22 medals -- seven gold, nine silver and six bronze. In this edition, India finished with a tally of 3-8-4.

“We have started our review. It’s an ongoing process. We are holding discussions with coaches and the sports science team and identifying areas where our shooters need to improve,” NRAI secretary general Pawan Singh told HT.

“In certain events we have done well and in certain events we expected better performances. Going forward, the focus will be on consistency in performance, as some scores were much below their average. Also, the conversion rate to gold medal needs to improve. We have been discussing all these things,” said Pawan.

Rifle shooters fetched India seven medals, including three individual (Himanshu Dhillon, Rudrankksh Patil, Elavenil Valarivan), Shotgun accounted for six, including two gold medals in trap, Neeru Dhanda in women’s individual and mixed team (with Kynan Chenai) events.

Pistol shooters, on the other hand, brought back just two medals, the biggest being the gold by Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet Singh in air pistol mixed team with a Games record score. In 25m pistol, Esha Singh bounced back after a disappointing show in air pistol to win silver. Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker qualified for the air pistol final but ended fifth.

In the Hangzhou Games, India had two individual gold medals, in women’s air pistol (Palak Gulia) and women’s 3 Positions (Sift Kaur Samra). The remaining five came in team events.

“China has been a leader in shooting for 50 years and we have just started challenging them. We are making a steady progress. Compared to the last edition, we also had fewer berths in shooting,” said the senior NRAI official.

“The gold medals in trap and mixed team events (trap and pistol), which are Olympic disciplines, is a big positive from the Asian Games,” he said.

Selection policy

NRAI will have to announce its selection rules this month, and it includes the policy for LA Olympics selection trials as the first set of quotas for the Games will be on offer at the World Championships in Doha next month. A few tweaks in the policy could be expected, such as putting more emphasis on winning the trials. Currently, the qualification score carries the most weight in the trials.

The national coaches would also do well to keep an eye on probables who could make it to the Olympic selection trials. “We need to be very mindful while watching the shooters and judge them objectively in high-pressure matches, assess their stress management, etc., and prepare them,” said rifle coach Deepali Deshpande.