With three major tournaments lined up in the coming two months,the Indian trap champion is leaving no stone unturned Pull,shouts Ronjan Sodhi,and the trap machine at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range releases two orange clay tablets into the air. Ronjan lets off two booming rounds from his Perrazi shotgun. Sprayed with shot,the tablets burst into puffs of pink smoke and a dozen camera shutters snap instantly. Ronjan Sodhi,winner of the double trap event at the World Cup in Lonato,Italy,repeats the feat a few more times for the TV cameras. There may be less than 20 days to go for the Commonwealth Games but Sodhi is giving a prior demonstration to the assorted journalists gathered for the Organising Committees guided tour of the range . The area just outside the firing area is littered with thousands of orange clay fragments,the result of hundreds of successful shots over the past five days. With just two days to go for the shotgun World Cup finals in Izmir,Turkey,Ronjan has been practicing hard. The next couple of months will see him taking part in three very important competitions the World Cup finals,the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games. He admits it will be difficult to maintain peak performance at all three tournaments. It is a question of balance. I am trying not to over-train or under-train during practice these days. Admittedly the Commonwealth Games are very important and subconsciously I will be thinking about them even at the World Cup Finals. But at Izmir,eight of the worlds top shooters,along with the world champion,will be competing. So I cant take that lightly either, he said. Ronjan had only good things to say about the Karni Singh range. From a competition point of view,the venue is good. I have played all over the world and this is comparable to some of the best. I was here at the Commonwealth test event in February and there have been huge changes ever since then. The shotgun range of the Karni Singh venue has just a few short shrubs out in the distance and Ronjan singled out the high visibility of the range for praise. There are many ranges abroad where there are a lot of distractions at the horizon,with buildings or trees. Sometimes,if it is windy,the trees start swaying and it becomes difficult to pick out the clay pigeons early in their flight. Over here,the background is almost entirely covered with sky. I think there is only one range like this that I saw in Kuwait that had this sort of visibility. There will definitely be high scores here at the Commonwealth Games. Ronjan also said the whole issue of home advantage at the commonwealth games was being overrated. As a shooter I have to perform everywhere equally well. All our equipment is the same,from the shotguns to the clay pigeons. That is ultimately separates a very good player from an average player. Be that it may,Ronjan believes he will perform well at the Commonwealth Games. I am taking part in two events the mens double trap singles and pairs. I am pretty confident of getting a medal in both events. Venue readyManmeet Singh Goindi,the venue manager at the Karni Singh range,said that the Indian shooting contingent had already begun training at the venue. The shotgun shooters are already practicing here,and the pistol and rifle shooters will come for a camp on the 24th of September. He added that Beijing gold medalist Abhinav Bindra had come in for practise a couple of days earlier and had told him that the stadium was one of the best he had trained in. While construction was going on the venue where the finals of the rifle and pistol are to be held,Goindi said that the work would be completed by the 17th. Pointing to the long marble polished walkway at the back of the indoor rifle venue,Goindi said The stadium no doubt looks good. The challenge will be to maintain the venue for the future once the Commonwealth Games gets over.
