Shooting has produced a stream of precocious talents in recent times β three of the five Olympics medals at Paris Olympics has come from the sport. While the talent pool has expanded, the competition at home is fierce.
The contest to book a Paris Olympics berth was tough enough for both quota winners βTilottama Sen and Mehuli Ghosh β to lose the race at home in the Olympic selection trial.
In her debut Olympics, she impressed the way she fought back in the qualification to enter the final. She ended up in the seventh position. On her return, Ramita took a three-month break from shooting. One is that I need to improve in the final. Qualification is my strong point. But I start slow in the final and gradually pick up. I keep fighting till the last shot and squeezed in medal contention. She was on the verge of elimination after 14 shots but then picked up to finish third.
This after she topped the qualification. Yes, the competition at home is getting tougher with each match. But when you are fighting in a field packed with Olympians, world cup and world championships medallists, even the slightest error could send your spiralling down. On Thursday, Narmada Nithin Raju was in a zone. With astounding precision and consistency, she finished at the top. Once she got the lead in the second series, shots in the higher 10s helped her open up a gap.
In the end, she scored Arya Rajesh Borse of Maharashtra proved to be equally strong to take the silver Everyone is shooting high scores. Narmada said she focussed on leading from start to finish. My heart rate was so high even in the final. Ramita, Narmada and the rest of the air rifle shooters will have to keep testing themselves at the domestic level as they enter a packed calendar that started with the National Championships last month. The selection trials for the World Cup are scheduled next month, and the world championship in Cairo in November, will be the biggest event this season.
