First shot fired, slightly off target

And that explained the chasm between the Olympic silver medallist and the five other finalists, all promising shooters. Twenty-two points separated first and second, which is almost an innings defeat in cricket terms.

The crowd included a bunch of students under the care of a Sports Authority of India coach. Her brief to the students was to cheer the shooters but they deviated from script and even booed those who missed the clay birds — definitely not the done thing, not even in a fun event.

There were the other usual attendant distractions: cellphones kept ringing, TV cameramen kept following the shooters from behind and, with just one shot to go, the judge stepped in to request the MC to announce the scores.

However, Rathore seemed to take it in his stride. ‘‘I know these things are not allowed in international shooting events. But these interruptions could be a blessing in disguise. One tries to overcome all kinds of pressure. In that sense, I enjoyed it thoroughly.’’

Other shooters were not so charitable, complaining about the malfunctioning of the machines that fired the claybirds — several ‘no birds’ had disturbed their concentration level.

That may be a small price to pay for the company of India’s top shooter. ‘‘It was an inspiration for us,’’ said Vikram Bhatnagar, who finished second.

A small beginning, perhaps, but a start nonetheless. For those who have, through the years, watched shooting events held in empty ranges, this was a pleasant surprise. Next year, to maintain protocol, they could perhaps hire one of the stern chair umpires from Wimbledon!