Numbers don't lie. For the first time since 1996, not a single Indian air rifle shooter qualified for the Olympic finals, and only one shooter out of four competing in the individual air pistol events – Saurabh Chaudhary – made it to the final.
The hope for the Indian shooting contingent to post one of its best Olympic performances of all time was not just a matter of wishful thinking. India was by far the most dominant nation in the 2019 and 2021 ISSF World Cup cycle – the premier international competition. In six World Cups and one World Cup final (annual year-end), men's pistol shooters – Saurabh and Abhishek Verma – won four gold medals, one silver and three bronze medals. Men's rifle shooters Divyansh Panwar and Deepak Kumar won one gold, one silver and one bronze. Elavenil Valarivan and Apurvi Chandela had won four gold medals between them, while women pistol shooters Yashaswini Deswal and Manu Bhaker won three gold and one silver.
The argument that the standard of competition in the World Cup is lower than in the Olympics is not really valid. For example, at the 2019 World Cup in Beijing, Panwar today won a silver medal, leading five of the eight finalists in Tokyo. In New Delhi, where Panwar won bronze, he defeated William Shaner (USA) - who would win gold in Tokyo.
So were Olympic hopes overly optimistic? Did the shooters perform poorly on Saturday and Sunday? It's a little bit of everything.
It is more accurate to compare their most recent scores with their Olympic scores to decide whether shooters live up to their billing, which depends in part on current competition, rather than looking at medals won at World Cups. Will happen.
This year, Indians have participated in seven competitions or selection trials. Entering the 2021 World Cup, the NRAI conducted a series of four tests. After that, the shooters competed as MQS shooters (not eligible for medals) at the 2021 New Delhi World Cup at the European Championships and the 2021 World Cup in Osijek.
Saurabh Chaudhary was one of only two shooters in Tokyo to have shot above average scores this year. He topped the qualification round of the 10m pistol event this year with a score of 586 shots above his average.
Then he stumbled in the final, where he usually thrives. In fact, before yesterday, his event in Tokyo had the highest average score per shot (10.131) in the final among all 36 competitors. In yesterday's final, however, Choudhury scored an unprecedented four straight scores in 9s (9.4, 9.0, 9.5, 9.7) in his first series. In his next series of five shots he shot 8.8 and 9.2 - a sequence that proved impossible to recover. This was the first time in his senior career that Chowdhary had recorded the sequence.
Yashaswini Deswal was the only other shooter to have a qualifying score equal to her average this year. She isn't a particularly strong shooter in the qualification round, making her more dangerous when she reaches the finals. In Tokyo, however, where the qualification cut-off for the final was 577, she needed an above-average day in the range – and she didn't.
Deswal's teammate Manu Bhaker had an average qualifying score of 579.5 this season, making him a contender in Tokyo. Even matching that average would have been more than enough to qualify for the final round in Tokyo - the cutoff was 577. While she lost time due to a pistol malfunction, she was looking for a place in the final until her last shot. Competition. Bhaker needed to shoot an inner ten on his 60th Hot, but only managed 8 in his quest for perfection.
Abhishek Verma was also in the race to qualify for the final till the last two shots. The cutoff for the finals in his event was 579 - which is equal to his average score this year. Two shots into the 10-point ring in his last two shots and Verma would have qualified for the final in 7th place. He only made two scores of 8s - the only time he made that shot in the entire competition.
The rifle shooters were dramatically off their average score this year and were not really in a position to qualify for the finals.
To qualify for the final of the women's 10m rifle event, Elavenil Valarivan needed a score of 628.5 – her average for the same year. Yet he scored only 626.5. While he is certainly capable of hitting high scores, it is also a fact that this year his best score has come either in the selection trials or in the MQS (non-medal) category at the European Championships. At the World Cup, where she was competing for a medal and so the stakes were high, her scores were 626.7 and 621.2 – which she shot in high-pressure Olympic qualification.
Apurvi Chandela's performance has deteriorated dramatically in the last one year. This time last year, when the Olympics were originally scheduled to be held, she had the momentum – she still holds the world record in women's finals. But a weight loss regimen during the COVID-19 lockdown changed the way his shooting jacket fitted and affected his scores. His performance in the New Delhi World Cup (622.8) had raised concerns but the coaches kept faith in him. And while her scores improved marginally at the European Championships and then the Osijek World Cup, she fell once again to 621.8 in Tokyo - the lowest shot she has ever shot since the 60-shot competition for women began in 2018. have put.
Perhaps the most disappointing result from the side would have been that of Divyansh Panwar. The 20-year-old has been the most consistent rifle performer for India over the years. Perhaps more should have been made about his performance at the Osijek World Cup, where he scored a sub-par 624.7. She needed her best performance to make the Tokyo final in an incredibly competitive arena (the cut for the final was 629.2, the highest in history). Although few would have expected him to score 622.8 - a score he has shot down only once as a junior in 2018.
While the individual events are over, India still have strong medal prospects in the mixed team events. The expectation of a strong performance will lie in how quickly the disappointment of individual results overtakes them.