Shooting: Is there more to the Rathore story?

Abhinav Bindra’s Beijing gold gave Indian shooting prominence at the world level, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore’s silver at Athens (2004) laid the path for rest of the fraternity.

The Army man not only won the first individual silver medal at the Olympics, he also instilled faith in the minds of his fellow shooters. Before Rathore’s incredible feat, India had only a few individual bronze medals to be proud of (Kashabha Jadhav 1952, Leander Paes 1996, Karnam Malleswari 2000).

Shooting suddenly became a sought-after sport in India, even as Rathore became a household name. And he bagged a few endorsements, perhaps the first for an Indian shooter. He grew in confidence and it showed in the results. Sample this: gold for two consecutive years at the Asian Clay Shooting Championship (Bangkok 2005, Singapore, 2006); gold in the double trap individual event; silver in pairs at the Melbourne edition of Commonwealth Games in 2006. Individual bronze and team silver at the Asian Games in Doha capped a commendable run.

Four years, however, is a long time. Unlike in Athens, there were high expectations on Rathore at the Beijing games. A silver medallist four years ago, he crashed out of the qualification round, finishing 15th overall from a field of 19.

He went through a bad phase and couldn’t arrest the dip in form. He kept himself away from the sport for a couple of years.

But his desire to don the Indian colours again brought him back to the shooting range. Chilly, as he is fondly called, started preparing himself for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Just as he was regaining form, fate had something else in store. Rathore expressed displeasure at the National Rifle Association of India’s (NRAI) selection policy and skipped the trials for the Delhi Games.

“Once you achieve something, reach a certain height, and something like this happens, you are left with two options. One option is to walk away and maintain your dignity. I was very close to doing that, as an individual finds it difficult to fight against the system. Yes, I felt like quitting then, but it was God’s grace and people close to me, who backed me all the time. Hence, I chose the second option of sticking to my talent and working hard,” he had told DNA.

Cut to 2011. Rathore made a low-key comeback to train himself for future assignments. Soon he silenced his critics by clinching the gold at the inaugural Asian Shotgun championship at Kuala Lumpur with a world-record equalling score of 148/150.

This was his best performance in recent times. After the win, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award recipient told DNA that his next aim was to participate in the London Games. But his London dreams were shattered as the NRAI selectors preferred a young and inexperienced pistol shooter from Patiala, Heena Sidhu.

Sidhu undoubtedly has the talent, but Rathore scores in experience. There is no gain saying that an event like Olympics demands nerves of steel too.

“We know Rathore has experience on his side, but looking at Heena’s current and past form, we felt she was the right candidate for the quota,” NRAI advisor Baljit Singh Sethi had  told this paper after the team was announced.

Rathore’s competitors across the globe were shocked though. “I know the selection criterion varies across different countries and India has its own yardsticks. But I feel sad for Rathore, a champion and a great shooter. He is determined and experienced and it is sad to hear that he has not been selected for the London Games,” says Ahmed al-Maktoum, the shooter from UAE, who defeated Rathore to clinch gold at the Athens Games in 2004.

“I know that he had been out of action for a couple of years, but he won the gold at the Asian Shotgun sometime back,” Ahmed reminds.

Beijing Olympic double trap champion Walton Eller from the USA shares a similar view. “I think it’s a shame that Chilly didn’t get the quota. He is one of the best double trap shooters in the world and is a threat to win every tournament he enters. Double trap is the hardest shooting event to win a quota. There are only 17 quotas, with two available to each country as opposed to trap (40 quotas) and skeet (36 quotas),” he told DNA, when informed that NRAI didn’t consider Rathore for the spare quota.

Though NRAI has announced the team, the deadline for exchanging the quota and sending the final list is March 12.

There is a faint hope for Rathore, only if NRAI’s think-tank change their mind. As three-time Olympian shooter from Italy, Daniele Di Spigno said: “I think if Rathore doesn’t shoot at London, it will not just be a loss for his country, but a loss for the sport too.”