Aichi, Sep 20 (IANS) After India’s silver-medal finish in the women’s 10m air rifle team event in Japan, Indian shooting high-performance manager Ronak Pandit said he was satisfied with the team silver, but said Indian shooting has reached a level where they did not say, “We won the silver, but started thinking that they lost the gold.”
India won their first medal at the Asian Games 2026 in the women’s 10m air rifle team event after the trio of Sonam Uttam Maskar (634.1), Elavenil Valarivan (633.5) and Vidarsa K (630.4) combined to score 1898.0.
“The performances were satisfying. I think all the three girls shot very well. And of course, it’s satisfying because of the gold. Indian shooting has reached a level where now we don’t say we won the silver. We have now started thinking that we lost the gold. But India, China, Korea are all neck to neck. And surprisingly, Japan was a surprise contender. Suddenly, after the first relay, they were in the middle of the contention,” Ronak told IANS.
Indian shooters had won a record 22 medals at the 2023 Asian Games, including seven gold, nine silver and six bronze.
“So, given the performances, I think we are very happy with how the girls have performed. And conditions were not very easy. The range is very small.
It’s very chaotic. It’s really like a fish market. Plus, all the issues we’ve been facing in the last couple of days.
“But I think the girls have performed absolutely the way they have been performing in domestic and other international circuits. So, to take the pressure of the Asian Games and to deliver your similar performance, it’s commendable,” he added.
Sonam and Elavenil, meanwhile, finished third and seventh, respectively, in the qualification round, making it to the individual final later today. Vidarsa K, meanwhile, finished in 12th spot.
Speaking about the expectation in the individual event, Ronak said he is eyeing “either a gold or a silver kind of a finish.”
He added, “Expectations are just that their performances remain up to the mark. Whatever they have trained, whatever the kind of performances they have been giving in the domestic and international circuit. Otherwise, in spite of the Asian Games pressure, we should be able to repeat those performances. And those performances, I’m pretty sure, will get us top two. We will not be expecting or fighting for anything less than that.”
Asked about the Indian shooting contingent’s logistical and transportation hurdles, which caused them to miss training sessions and face exhausting commutes, Ronak said they are least affected by such issues; instead, they are focusing on ensuring that the athletes remain insulated from all the noise.
“What happens when you come to a game is that our options are limited. Because there’s a lot of security concern. If you stay elsewhere, then you have to arrange your own transport, which will not be allowed inside the facility because of security reasons.
“So your hands are pretty tight. And it’s not just us. Even the other countries and other teams are facing similar issues. What is important is how you respond to them. Instead of complaining, if we just stay focused on our task and whatever problems we face, if we just focus on solving them and getting the least affected by them.
“At the end of the day, a medal is a relative performance. If you perform poorly, but if your competitor performs even more poorly, you will end up winning. We have tried our best to ensure that the athletes remain insulated from all the noise and the inconveniences.”
–IANS
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