Olympics: Ronjan Sodhi aims for gold

There are expectations and then there are expectations. India’s double trap shooting star Ronjan Sodhi has experienced them both.

In 2008, despite setting two world records in the lead-up to the Olympics, he failed to make it to the team. And now in 2012, he makes the trip to London as one of India’s leading medal hopes.

His consistent display over the last three years has seen him ranked second in the ISSF magazine’s Super 25 chart.

“The world record holder, India’s Ronjan Sodhi, has been one of the strongest double trap shooters of the last Olympic cycle, with 19 participation in the ISSF World Cup, World Cup finals and World Championships, 6 podiums and 3 victories, including the 2010 and 2011 ISSF World Cup Finals in Izmir and Al Ain. The 33-year old Indian made it to the Games, internally beating the 2004 Olympic Silver medalist Rathore, and now wants at least a spot on the podium.”

Though, Sodhi mentioned American Walton Eller and Joshua Richmond as his main challengers, he also insisted as that all the 22 shooters in the fray in double trap had a chance to strike gold.

The Indian, who finished seventh in this year’s World Championship, felt a score of 145 out of 150 at the range would be good enough to get into the final.

In a release issued by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) from London, Ronjan was quoted as saying that it would be a level-playing field, and the challenge was to perform under tough weather conditions as well.

The double trap marksman, Ronjan said that everything would boil down to the performance on the day.

“You may be the greatest shooter of all time but you need a bit of luck on a particular day,” said Ronjan.