There is a reason why the stellar showing by young shooters Shahzar Rizvi, Manu Bhaker and Mehuli Ghosh in the ongoing ISSF World Cup in Mexico has gotten people excited. The medal haul by the trio—three gold and two bronze—has pitch-forked them into limelight like never before. These youngsters have come through the junior shooting programme, having outperformed established, experienced and much more decorated seniors to make it to the senior national team. All three are shooting in their first World Cup.
It is not just them; there are a few other youngsters who will be keen to showcase their prowess—15 -year-old pistol shooter Anish Bhanwala is one, who will be looking to earn his spurs at the international level, having shot a world record breaking score at the senior national trials in Delhi in January this year.
Rizvi, 21, set the tone with his gold in the men's 10m air pistol—shooting a record score of 242.3 in the 24 shot final, pipping reigning Olympic gold medalist Christian Reitz of Germany.
Sixteen-year-old Manu Bhaker from Jhajjar, Haryana became cynosure of all eyes as she won two gold medals. The first was in the individual women's 10m air pistol event—she clinched it in a sensational style, shooting a 10.8 on the last shot in the final. She was back on top of the podium a day later, winning the gold in the mixed team event alongside Omprakash Mitharval. Bhaker created a sensation when she won 16 medals at the senior national championships recently.
Speaking about Bhaker who has trained under him, Pistol ace Jaspal Rana, also the junior national coach, was happy for the class 11 student's achievements but also sounded a word of caution. “I am obviously very happy and as a coach I should be enjoying their success but I am more worried. These things (success at senior level) come so fast that handling the pressure and speed of things is not easy. I am really proud of Manu, but we will now have to work harder to protect her from expectations. It's essential for her to remain grounded, to reach here is not so difficult as it is to stay here,” said the legend to THE WEEK.
“Manu has talent, she can do really well but she needs all possible support,” added Rana. Asked what is the quality that has stood out in her per him, Rana said, “She is a very strong headed shooter. She knows what the sport is all about.” Bhaker was introduced to the sport a few years ago by her father. She then came for national trials and from there, she made it to the junior national team of which Rana was in charge.
However, Rana is not totally happy with the National Rifle Association of India, stating that the federation could have supported her better bypassing her case harder in TOPS. “The struggle to get to this level is solely her and her family's. Why is it that an athlete has to prove himself or herself first before getting the support required?” asked Rana.
The NRAI defended itself saying the junior shooters may not have made it to the cash rich TOPS scheme of the Union Sports Ministry, however, they did get the support required in terms of coaching, ammunition and exposure as members of the national camps. Said NRAI President Raninder Singh to THE WEEK: “They are covered under the ACTC which is submitted by federation and approved by SAI. There is a process put in place by the ministry, all proposals have to be approved by the TOPS Committee only if they meet certain norms. Even then, if at all approved, they need to pass muster with the Mission Olympic cell which gives final financial clearances. The norms are uniform across all sports. These youngsters are going to get chances to compete in 5 ISSF World Cups, A world championship and the Asian Championships.”
The youngsters managed to get a chance to take a shot at senior level after NRAI changed its selection policy after Common Wealth Games Organising Committee cut the number of participants' quota in shooting in both men's and women's events to 15 and 12.
Mehuli Ghosh is another teenage sensation who won two bronze medals in the Mexico World Cup. The 16-year-old from Hooghly district of West Bengal, won the bronze in the women's 10 m air rifle event on the first day of the event, followed by another bronze in the 10m Air rifle Mixed Team event along with Deepak Kumar.
Coached by Joydeep Karmakar, who missed a medal at London Olympics 2012 narrowly, coming fourth, Ghosh won two gold and seven silver medals in the 60th National Shooting championship in Pune earlier, topping in all three categories she participated in—junior, youth and senior. Karmakar has been extremely confident of the youngster's bright future ever since she came to train at his shooting academy in Kolkata.
The emergence of younger crop bodes well for Indian shooting in long term. After a disastrous outing in Rio Olympics, there was a concern regarding over dependence on a few top shooters. According to NRAI president Raninder Singh, “These juniors as you term them are already in the senior team. Shooting is a measurable sport; the results are there for all to see. We need to take this forward and for this we seek cooperation of all stakeholders including media. For us, Olympics (medal) is the ultimate goal. There are bound to be ups and downs in this journey for youngsters; we need to help them through it.”
While Rana maintains that experience is what still matters and gives results in shooting, he says emergence of the younger bunch is a good sign. “The new crop is coming up faster, the older guys have to grow taller or else they will be overtaken. It's a good thing in long term for Indian shooting.”