Gunning for glory: Why young Indian shooting contingent is country’s best medal hope at Tokyo 2020
Just as I was wondering what could be India’s best medal prospects at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, I casually visited the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF)’s website. ISSF is the governing body of shooting all over the world. The words ‘pleasantly surprised’ might not be able to fully portray my emotions as an Indian sports fan. Not just one or two, but eight Indian shooters out of the 15 participating in the Tokyo Olympics are ranked in the top three of their respective categories.
Why are the hopes high?
It is not the first time that Indian shooters are going into the Olympics with very high rankings, but the difference this time is that all those shooters, except Rahi Sarnobat, Apurvi Chandela and Anjum Moudgil are totally new to this greatest ever sporting experience. They do not have any memory, good or bad to fall back to or lean upon and hence would be up for the challenge with an open and fresh mind. In fact, all the shooters with high rankings are actually first time Olympians, except Rahi.
Who are the best bets?
It might be difficult to pronounce her name, but Elavenil Valarivan, the 10 Meter Air Rifle shooter from Tamil Nadu and a product of Sanskar Dham shooting range looks like the strongest contender to put the yellow metal around her neck.
With eight Golds, a sliver and a bronze at World events and the number one ranking in her own category, Valarivan might not be a household name like Manu Bhakar or rags to riches story like Saurabh Choudhary, but the determination in her eyes and her training process where she detaches from the game altogether during her time off the circuit is something that makes her different from others.
However, Valarivan’s is not the only weapon that can shoot glory for India. In fact, her partner at the mixed event of the 10 M Air Rifle, Divyansh Singh Panwar is an equally bright medal hope for the country, both in his single event and also in the mixed one. 19-year-old Divyansh is a nine-time world events medalist at senior and junior levels combined and is ranked number two in his trade. The long-haired man comes from the same state as Rajyvardhan Singh Rathore, India’s first Olympic medalist in Shooting.
The pairing of Manu Bhakeer and Saurabh Choudhary
It’s not always that a nation of more than 10 billion people puts its entire hopes on the shoulders of two teenagers at the Olympics. But such is the aura, discipline and success of Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary that the nation can’t just help itself but hope and pray for their success.
Both Manu and Chaudhary are just 19 years old and rank number two in 10 Meter Air Pistol for Women and Men respectively. The number one ranked players in their category are also Indians.
Among them, they have a tally of 46 World Medals, of which 31 are gold. Apart from their individual pursuits for a medal, the two could combine to give India a medal in the 10 M Air Pistol mixed event as well.
What about others?
Any sport apart from being about consistency is also about having a good or a bad day. The good/bad day scenario takes centre stage especially in individual or pair sports as you don’t have a team and other players to back you up if you are having a bad day. Therefore, while the above discussed four players are serious medal hopes for the country, but the other 11 going there are equally capable of giving India the joy of celebrating an Olympic medal.
Looking at the current form of Yashashvini Deswal in the Women 10 M Air Pistol, if she pulls out a surprise on Manu or others in the fray, it should not shock the nation ash she has done it previously too. In the 2021 and 2019 World Cups, Deswal has won three Gold Medals, two in the individual event and one in team 10 M Air Pistol. To her and Abhishek Verma’s credit are also Bronze and a Silver in the mixed team events in those two World Cups.
Verma on his part has also won three Golds, one silver and two bronze in the last two World Cups and on his day might be the best Indian or the Best Shooter in the range. Other than these two young shooters, the experienced guns in Apurvi Chandela, Rahi Sarnobat and Sanjeev Rajput are also capable of hitting the bullseye on their day.
When to expect what?
The Schedule of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Shooting event is spread between Saturday, July 24 to Sunday, August 2. But the days that India should be looking forward to are as follows:
Saturday, July 24
On this day, four Indian shooters will be in the fray as the Women’s 10 Meter Air Rifle and Men’s 10 Meter Air Pistol events’ Qualification and Final rounds take place on this day. Saurabh Chaudhary and Abhishek Verma would compete in the Men’s event while Elavenil Valarivan and Apurvi Chandela would be vying for a place on the podium in the Women’s event. Thus on this day India could fancy getting atlaest two and at max four medals.
Sunday, July 25
Much like Saturday, on Sunday too, it can turn out to be super sunday for the Indians as Manu Bhaker and Yashashvini Deswal would compete in the Women’s 10 M Air Pistol event while Divyansh Singh Panwar and Deepak Kumar would look to target medal in the 10 M Air Rifle event at the Asaka Shooting Range in Tokyo.
Tuesday, July 27
On this day the mixed team events take place and from India eight shooters in fourteams would be vying for a place on the podium in two separate events. While Manu and Chaudhary will be competing alongside Verma and Deswal in the Mixed 10 M Air Pistol event, Valarvin will pair up with Panwar and Anjum Moudgil with Deepak Kumar to fight for a medal in the Mixed 10 M Air Rifle event.
