M&M plot their way out of Olympic dust trap

And most worried are the trap shooters — for India, that means Mansher Singh and Manavjit Singh Sandhu. Unlike in double trap or skeet, where the paths of the ‘birds’ are determined, in trap the clay ‘birds’ can fly out in any direction. Tough at any time, doubly so given the wind factor.

But Manav and Mansher see the positive in that: the conditions, they feel, will give everyone a chance. ‘‘If our luck holds, we can return with medals. But our first task would be to reach the finals. From there on, it’s anybody’s game,’’ says Mansher while practicing at the Tughlaqabad range near Delhi.

Their confidence is borne out of three things: the new guns made according to their body structures, the ‘gun-fit’ status and, three, their recent scores since winning the quota places during the Asian Shooting championships. And adding to their ammo is the funding by the sports ministry.

Mansher went to Melbourne to train with Russel Mark, an Olympic medallist, and the two engaged the services of Chris Haynes — himself a top boxer and now a pro golfer — to work on the Indian. Chris, regarded as a great strategist, not only worked on Mansher’s physical fitness but even planned his diet. Mark and Chris brought about a pattern to his shooting, filming it with a high-speed digital camera and playing it back for Mansher to see and absorb.

And the benefits were immediately clear. ‘‘When I watched the footage, I knew the importance of my reaction time, accuracy, swing among other factors. Accordingly, I changed my gun posture — I raised the holding posture a couple of feet above normal — and the results followed.’’

After acquiring his new gun, Mansher skipped the Afro-Asian Games last year in Hyderabad, preferring instead to spend time working on the stock. ‘‘Though I got my gun according to computer specifications of my body, I needed to reduce the stock which I did with sandpaper.’’

Though Mansher did not win any medals in the world cup events last year, he feels he’s in ‘match-fit’ condition for the Games, particularly after his scores in the Asian championships in Kuala Lumpur (144), at Bangkok Asian Clay championships (143) and at the Czech Republic (144) last fortnight.

Similarly, Manav had the privilege to finish with a bronze at Lorento (Italy), where nine top Athens hopefuls participated in a field of 490 shooters in the Europa Cup. His coach Marcello Dradi too shot at the meet and was one point ahead of Manav (144) to tie with eventual gold medal winner Bindrich of German (145).

Before acquiring his new gun, Manav had to reduce his weight by 19 kilos. That was six months earlier but a strict regimen of ‘workouts’ and dietary control has kept him in the ‘‘right frame of mind and body weight’’ for the mega event.

If things go according to plans, the two trap shooters can give other competitors a run for their money. The fact that there are eight shooters from India — the best ever achievement by our shooters — has made the shooting community sit up and take note.