In the Medal Range

Indeed, Anjali has come a long way since her Sydney Olympic days in 2000. In the last couple of years her personality has undergone a sea change. The shyness and the insular approach she had for the media have all gone. Today, she brims with a confidence that is absolutely cosmopolitan in nature.

In math terminology, the difference in her scores of 394 and 399 8212; she achieved the latter at Fort Benning last month 8212; may be a mere five points. But in shooting parlance, it is as distant as the two places 8212; Sydney and Fort Benning 8212; are from each other. Similarly, the progress she has made over the years is phenomenal.

Only the second Indian woman to make an Olympic final after track queen P T Usha, Anjali is naturally a proud person. Not because there8217;s a chance she8217;ll do one better than Usha, but because she has 8216;8216;worked her way to earn the quota place8217;8217; for Athens next year. This, as Anjali puts it, is quite satisfying. But the real show begins now.

The foremost thing on the CISF Inspector8217;s mind are the immediate targets 8212; the three World Cups in Croatia, Germany and Korea, and the Commonwealth championships. She will self-confessedly not confine herself to winning medals at the World Cup meets but actually help teammates Deepali Deshpande and Suma Shirur earn another place for the country by putting pressure on shooters from other countries. 8216;8216;I have to keep shooting at that level and ease the pressure on my teammates,8217;8217; she said.

Deepali, in fact, came close to making the grade but missed the chance by a whisker 8212; a mere 0.3 separated her making the 8216;cut8217; 8212; and this is where Anjali can play a crucial role. Hailing as they do from the same place 8212; Mumbai 8212; they all train together and are tough critics of each other. But what makes Anjali a cut above her mates is her focus and dedication in sticking to a rigorous training schedule, including yoga and meditation.

And it is to her credit that Anjali has stayed cool and concentrated on the job at hand without a coach for all these years. That Anjali was able to shoot her best score of 399 three times in the past year is testimony to her ability.

The Champions Trophy competition last year saw Anjali reaching the pinnacle as she emerged the best shooter among both men and women in a special event conducted by the ISSF at the end of the Munich World Cup final. In the event, restricted to medal winners in the final, four shots were fired by all the contestants; the lowest totals were eliminated and the process went on till two remained in the fray. The two fired three shots each and the better total got the trophy and Euros 2,500.

In the women8217;s event, with the cream of women8217;s shooting including the then world champion, Anjali was not exactly a favourite for a medal. But she dished out a miracle of sorts, firing away two world record-holders and other champions in finishing second behind Russian Lioubov Galkina. A fantastic performance by any yardstick.

Following that, Anjali had her best scores of 399 twice last year, repeating the feat at Fort Benning last month. The first time she scored 399 in the preliminary round in the European circuit 8212; she bagged three gold, three silver and a bronze medals in eight competitions. The second time was when she grabbed the silver in the World Cup in Atlanta behind Galkina last May. Anjali had shot 398 twice in winning the gold in the pairs and individual events in the Manchester Games.

But it8217;s not been a bed of roses all the way for her. The first blow came soon after the Sydney Games. The shooters were told that their Hungarian coach Laszlo Szucsak was quitting to settle down in Australia after failing to persuade the authorities for a hike in his fee. 8216;8216;This came as a big shock and left us in a confused state. But we slowly overcame the initial hiccups and got in touch with the coach on e-mail. He was very receptive and charted out a work schedule specifically for each of us. He even managed to get us an official letter to work along with the Japanese shooters, whom he is currently coaching.8217;8217;

Anjali and her teammates8217; association with Szucsak continued, thanks to SAI. If it was only Anjali last year, this year SAI sent Deepali and Suma to Malaysia to train with him. But some loose ends remain, which need plugging before Athens.

Two other people have been working behind-the-scenes to give Anjali the leg-up. Anjali credits the national chief coach Prof Sunny Thomas and her husband Mandar Bhagwat, without whose help, 8216;8216;it would not have been possible for me to come this far.8217;8217;

The shape of things to come is entirely positive, but for the moment Anjali8217;s focus is on 8216;8216;going and shooting and maintaining the high-scoring pattern8217;8217; she has achieved. 8216;8216;If medals come, they are going to come. I can8217;t try anything new consciously now. That puts a lot of pressure. Now I have learnt to handle pressure.8217;8217;

Anjali expects a tough fight to come from three shooters 8212; Lioubov Galkina, Sun Hua Seo both Koreans and Goa Jiang China 8212; who hold the world record with all hits and no misses 8212; 400 out of 400! But Anjali believes that this score is within her reach. Whichever way you look at it, Anjali seems the only 8216;sure shot8217; medal probable for India at the coming Olympiad. And her recent form and performances have confirmed that.