Tokyo Olympics 2020: Former shooter Anjali Bhagwat on India's preparations for Games, her Olympic memories and more

The Rio Olympics in 2016 was an overall disappointment for the innumerable Indians that tuned in, but perhaps no sport failed to live up to what it promised quite as much as shooting. In both previous editions of the Olympics, Indian shooters had won a medal, and Abhinav Bindra’s 10m air rifle gold at Beijing 2008 is considered a landmark moment for the country. However, in 2016, no Indian shooter was able to continue the streak and further the country’s success in the sport. This time around, the Indian shooting team once again heads to the Olympics as one of the most promising outfits in the Indian contingent, and according to former Indian shooter Anjali Bhagwat, there’s more than enough reason to be optimistic despite previous disappointments. “It’s not been last-minute planning this time. For four years, we’ve been working on these shooters. They are the future. They’ve been groomed under former shooters who are now coaches, like Suma Shirur, Deepali Deshpande, Jaspal Rana and Samaresh Jung. The major difference between this Olympics and Rio is that in the last four years, the junior and senior shooters have been split up, and a lot has been invested into the development of younger talent,” said Bhagwat in an interaction with journalists. When asked about why shooters failed to impress in Rio, Bhagwat point to a lack of coherent planning on the part of everyone involved, saying, “in 2016, everyone was off doing their own thing, training on their own. A lot of shooters went abroad to train for no real reason. It was disorganised and it didn’t help the team.” “This time, everything has been planned meticulously, and the execution of the plan has been excellent as well. You can see the results in the performances at major tournaments. There’s also great financial backing for the sport. Apart from the support and facilities, their mindset is totally different. When we began our shooting careers, we had no senior shooters to look up to. When we competed abroad, we had a bit of an inferiority complex. But now that India has won medals, it’s changed the thought process of younger shooters. They know that we have won medals, which makes them think they too can win medals.” A young squad Thanks to the focus on developing fresh shooting talent over the course of the past Olympic cycle, much of the Indian contingent is extremely young. Manu Bhaker (19), Divyansh Singh Panwar (18), Saurabh Chaudhary (19) and Aishwary Pratap Singh (20) are on the extreme end of the spectrum, but even shooters like Yashaswini Singh Deswal and Elavenil Valarivan, who are considered to be comparatively senior shooters, are still only in their early 20s. With so many young faces in the squad, a common concern in the build-up to the Olympics has been a lack of experience, but Bhagwat stressed that that was far from the truth, saying, “we can expect good performances from the younger shooters. This is the first Olympics for a lot of them, but almost all athletes have done well at so many tournaments before, so they have a lot of experience, which will come in handy if they qualify for the finals. They’ve played in many World Cups as well. They’re talented and confident shooters. I’ve seen their hard work and dedication. They have senior shooters along with them, as well as the Indian coaches, and they’ll be guided well.” “Pressure is always there, whether it’s a regular domestic match or the Olympics. Shooting in the Olympics is totally different though because, in the back of your mind, you know that you’re being watched by a nation and what their expectations are. By the time you reach this stage though, you’re ready for it, you’re prepared for it. On the way to the Games, you go through things like World Cups and the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games, and all of that prepares you,” she added. Bhagwat also mentioned that the younger shooters have had the privilege of having grown up in a fiercely competitive domestic circuit, saying, “these athletes have all had a transparent selection process, in which they’ve faced thousands of other shooters and come out on top. This domestic field has made them tougher, they’re proven now. They’re also a little arrogant, in a good way. They believe in themselves completely.” The impact of COVID-19 COVID-19 has played a key role in the preparations of athletes across the globe, and Bhagwat opined that the timing of the pandemic could not have been worse for Indian shooting, as all the momentum of an extremely promising 2019 campaign ultimately went in vain. “In 2019, we had a squad that was perfectly ready to take on the Olympics. There was a fantastic performance from the shooters in the World Cup. It was a high-level squad, and they looked to be in form. Unfortunately, the pandemic hit and everything just stopped, which gave other countries a chance to catch up to us. Had COVID-19 not happened, I would have confidently said that we will win 5-6 medals, but now we know that the rest of the world is also currently shooting at more or less the same level as us,” said Bhagwat. Bhagwat’s Olympic memories Bhagwat also looked back fondly on her own memories of the Olympics, especially those from Syndey 2000, where she became the first-ever Indian shooter to qualify for a finals. “During the 2000 Olympics, I was very new, I was an amateur. I only found out days before the Olympics that I would be participating, so I didn’t get a chance to prepare well. I shot very well in the qualification round, and I was lucky to be the first shooter to qualify for the finals. Honestly, I wasn’t prepared at all for the finals, and I didn’t know how to compose myself. I couldn’t shoot well in the finals, but the overall experience was great.” “Once you go to the Olympic villages, you’ve got elite athletes all around you, you casually bump into some of the biggest names. When I went for the 2004 Olympics, I met Roger Federer on Day 1, and then I ran into Rafael Nadal and then I met the American basketball team with all the NBA stars. That initial excitement is always there when you go to such an event,” added Bhagwat. [caption id=“attachment_9830611” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Anjali Bhagwatin action at the 2004 Olympics. AFP[/caption] The former Olympian was also quick to advise younger shooters to not get caught up in the occasion, saying, “after a while, the thrill wears off, and you have to quickly get into your groove and begin to focus on your job. You realise what your responsibilities are. This is something that you prepare for over the course of four or five years. You’ve gone through everything, you’ve competed in all the other tournaments to get here. You need to keep to your plan, and make sure you don’t deviate from it.” Watch the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 live on SONY SIX, SONY TEN 2 channels starting 23 July.