Fractionally off the mark

And once again the selection policy has a major say in the decision. Rathore had only been back in the fold after a stupendous comeback tournament where he won the gold medal at the National shooting championships held in New Delhi in January this year. But after two relatively quieter outings in Concepcion and in Sydney World Cups,the champion had to make way for Vikram Bhatnagar in the double trap team for the Beijing World Cup.

In the first two events,Rathore scored 133 and 137,slipping behind the pecking order as his overall aggregate has come down to 135 – .7 behind Bhatnagar and .1 behind Ajay Mittal. For the record,Ronjon Singh Sodhi is leading the rankings with a total of 142.8,followed by Mohammad Asab,who is on 136.3.

But in a change of things from last year,the Olympic medalist kept his frustations to himself. “I do have an opinion on the current policy,but I will keep it to myself. If the association wants to hear it I will readily tell them,” the 41-year-old told the Sportline on Wednesday,adding : “I have given up thinking about all these things because I know what I’m capable of doing. The federation should know that this is a very crucial year for all the shooters and based on this we look forward to the coming year (2012 Olympics).”

Time Factor

After starting to hit some form after a two-year gap — post 2008 Beijing Olympics he had taken a one-year sabbatical and was not at his best at the start of 2010 because of which he missed events in the rest of the year — Rathore was looking forward to getting as many competitions under his belt as he could but the latest omission comes as a setback in his bid to regain lost touch.

“I needed a year off at that time otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to carry on shooting. As for missing the second year,well… life presents you with situations like that. The important thing is to keep on playing,but I had to get to the level where others have reached in a short period when I was out,” he added.

“I have been working really hard and hammering the targets,but I have to get back to my rythm quickly,” he added.

Most importantly,India’s hero at Athens Olympics needs to get back to his old self,a time when competitors feared measuring up against the champion. “People should drop targets even before you take your first shot ,it gives you the psychological edge.”

But all is not lost. Rathore can win back what can be called his rightful place,with a better showing in Beijing,like Kynan Chenai. Chenai was out of the trap team for the Sydney event,but his good showing as an MQS shooter,coupled with a blip from Anirudh Singh,won him a place for the next World Cup.