Indian shooting's fight with mental barriers continues as top shooters disappoint in World Cup Final

Manu Bhaker broke India’s medal drought in shooting at the Paris Olympics, later joined by Sarabjot Singh and Swapnil Kusale, marking the first time India won three shooting medals in a single edition of the Summer Games. This historic campaign, which saw India win shooting medals for the first time since the London 2012 Games, led to various analyses, including the popular narrative that the lack of expectations and pressure on the shooting contingent allowed Indian athletes to fly under the radar and forge a path to the podium.

For a long time, pressure and expectations have been seen as the biggest challenges for Indian shooting, causing some of the top shooters — including Abhinav Bindra, Jitu Rai, Saurabh Chaudhary, and Manu Bhaker — to narrowly miss out on Olympic medals at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, despite being considered among the best in their respective categories

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On Tuesday, back home and in front of a vociferous crowd at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range in the national capital, a familiar story unfolded as some of India’s top shooters fell by the wayside at ISSF World Cup Final 2024 — an outcome that, unfortunately, came as no surprise.

In four events on Tuesday, seven Indian shooters made it to the final including star athletes Rhythm Sangwan, Arjun Babuta, and Divyansh Singh Panwar.

Sonam Uttam Maskar, however, was the only shooter from the home team to save India’s blushes amid the elaborate arrangement of dhols and an enthusiastic crowd at the Karni Singh Shooting Range. The 22-year-old, who has been pursuing shooting full-time for just two years, clinched her first World Cup silver in the 10m air rifle (women) with a score of 252.9.

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The Kolhapur shooter. who is now based out of Mumbai, had finished fourth in the qualification and was only bettered by China’s Yuting Huang in the final as the Paris silver medallist hit a world record score of 254.5**.**

Tilottama Sen in the same event finished sixth.

Sonam shines under pressure

Sonam trailed France’s Oceanne Muller in the third position till the 18th shot but took a slender 0.5 points lead after the next two shots. This eventually helped her clinch the silver and while she shot 10.6 and 10.8 on her last two attempts as compared to Huang’s 10.6 and 10.3, the Chinese won the gold by a whisker.

FIRST RESULT & it’s a second world record🔥 as Huang Yuting 🇨🇳 (centre) fires 254.5 to win the women’s air rifle 🥇 Sonam Maskar 🇮🇳 (left) wins 🥈 & Oceanne Muller 🇫🇷 🥉. It’s a senior & junior world record. Congratulations 👏 #ISSFWorldCupFinalNewDelhi2024 pic.twitter.com/DLdeOUgN8P

— NRAI (@OfficialNRAI) October 15, 2024

Yet, it was a performance to behold from the Abhinav Bindra fan as she defied the pressure from the home crowd and overcame doubts in her mind to clinch silver, even when a bronze seemed like the best possible outcome.

“There was some nervousness in my first World Cup final but I was determined to give my 100 per cent and hence it all went well,” a beaming Sonam who also trains at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range told Indian media after her medal win.

“If we don’t think too much then shooting goes well. So that’s important,” she said while explaining her process.

“I wasn’t worried about losing the medal but the focus was on doing well as it was a do-or-die situation. I was really happy to see the fans cheering for us, for India. The cheering from the fans was like a motivation.”

Babuta, Rhythm disappoint

While it was refreshing to see an Indian shooter channel her thoughts effectively and deliver her best performance in a crucial moment, the same, unfortunately, could not be said for other Indian stars, including Olympians Babuta, Divyansh, and Rhythm.

Babuta had a crushing Paris Olympics, missing out on a bronze medal in the 10m air rifle event by just 1.4 points. On Tuesday at home, Babuta, who hails from Chandigarh but trains in Delhi, had a golden opportunity to script his redemption, but it finished in an even bigger heartbreak as the 25-year-old finished eighth.

The Indian rifle shooter led the competition till the 16th out of 24 shots but a 9.8 on his 18th shot saw him drop from first to fifth as he was eliminated and Austria’s Martin Strempfl edged ahead by just 0.6 points.

Divyansh Singh finished last at eight in the same event.

“During the shooting, the thoughts of the Olympic final crossed my mind and that thought was too strong. I was not able to overcome it,” Babuta said after a heartbreaking final. “I am gaining my confidence back and I believe it will help me in the future.”

While Babuta finished second in the qualification and Divyansh was fifth, it wasn’t the first time that Indian shooters struggled to replicate their qualification form in the final, despite the short time gap between the two stages.

Things went from bad to worse for India when another Indian shooter missed out on a medal despite a solid qualification. Former World Championships and triple World Cup gold medallist Rhythm topped the 10m air pistol women’s qualification and was in the bronze medal position after 18 shots despite starting the final in the eighth spot.

However, in the next two shots that decided the final three medals winner, Rhythm shot a shocking 8 and 10.3, presumably buckling under the pressure and leaving the home fans disheartened as momentary silence engulfed the range.

Surbhi Rao finished fifth, a spot behind compatriot Rhythm.

In the final event of the day, Arjun Singh Cheema was first to be eliminated in the 10m air pistol men’s final after a streak of disappointing shots that included a highest of 10.

More Indians will be back in action on Wednesday at the ISSF World Cup Final 2024, aiming for medals in the 25m air pistol and 50m rifle 3 positions. However, Tuesday served as another reminder that while Indian shooting boasts plenty of talent, it still struggles with composure. This issue persists despite the successes at the Paris Olympics, and addressing these psychological challenges should remain a priority for the National Rifle Association of India.