OFF TARGET

Which raises one question: What is India’s Beijing Plan for its shooters? Can we hope for an upgrade from the silver, or, as the pessimists would say, can we at least get one silver? What are we doing about it?

‘‘We don’t have a plan’’, says National Rifle Association (NRAI) secretary-general Baljeet Sethi. ‘‘But our shooters are in the right direction. Hopefully, we will do better than at Athens.’’

But a gameplan for the Olympics requires more than a wing and a prayer (and a candid admission). Especially in light of the competition.

Because China’s young stars were burning up range at their Nationals earlier this month. Indeed, most of their Olympic winners including the formidable Du Li, winner of the gold in the women’s air rifle, were elbowed out at the qualifying stage itself. The standout performances were by two teenagers — Cao Yifei and Yu Xiaokai.

How do they go about rearing fresh talent? ‘‘It’s a modern, scientific and rigorous programme’’, says Dr Amit Bhattacharya, a Chandigarh-based freelance ‘‘shooting lover’’ who has observed the top Chinese shooters at several international competitions, including the Sydney and Athens Olympics.

He came across many details while researching a paper on Du Li, including the fact that the coaches are also trained in optometry, and that the shooters practice I Ching meditation.

‘‘The training is carried out by shooting experts coordinating with experts from different fields, including neurotherapy, physiotherapy and sports medicine doctors and nutritionists’’, says Bhattacharya, attached with PGI, Chandigarh.

All this is backed up by a liberal government sports policy that, in the past few months, allowed the federation to import 2000 Morini air pistols and set up 28 shooting ranges across the country.

THE afterglow of Rajyavardhan Rathore’s Athens silver was the best time to have boosted the sport’s wherewithal and, indeed, there was much talk of it, but it remained just that.

It didn’t escape notice that Rathore’s silver medal was due more to his Army training and individual talent than an organised training system.

Well, nothing’s changed. The recent national camps at Delhi’s Tughlaqabad range saw widespread complaints about issues ranging from accommodation to ammunition. The shooters there — the country’s best — trained with ammunition that had been imported in 2002 for the Manchester Commonwealth Games. Ammunition that has a shelf life of six months.

At the National shooting event in October 2004, immediately after the Rathore silver, only half the shooters had their own guns; those were shared with the other half. While China has imported 2000 guns, India is running on empty.

‘‘We have been managing with fewer facilities, and we will probably continue to do so’’, said one top shooter.

It’s a plea echoed by chief shooting coach Sunny Thomas. ‘‘You can’t expect results without proper ammunition’’, he says.

The federation has a Long-Term Development Plan which outlines yearly training programmes and targets to be achieved. ‘‘We have submitted the plans, which include the Olympics, to SAI’’, says Thomas. ‘‘It’s up to them (SAI officials) to provide the basic facilities as early as possible.’’

And here’s where the familiar buck-passing shows its face. ‘‘We have good, scientific staff members’’, says SAI’s executive director (teams) MP Ganesh. ‘‘If someone isn’t interested in taking advantage of them, it isn’t our fault.’’

The responsibility for raising the standard lies with the NRAI but their attitude is puzzling, to say the least. Back to Sethi. The Chinese are more organised than the Indians, he admitted, but was nevertheless bullish on his shooters’ prospects. ‘‘What if the Chinese are improving? We are not far behind.’’

Sethi’s optimism clearly isn’t based on results (see box below) but he’s not letting that stop him. He doesn’t believe, for example, that sports medicine experts should coordinate with shooting experts for better results. ‘‘Since we lack modern facilities, we should make the best use of what is available.’’

THE effect of all this on the shooters is not good news. Overall results are bad, performances have slipped and whatever good results have trickled in are due to the shooters’ own efforts and not any systematic training.

The more serious indicator of stagnation is the fact that the same set of players has been dominating the national scene for the past couple of years; the system simply isn’t throwing up new champions. Some juniors — Amanpreet Singh and Harveen Sarao — have shown promise of late but it’s more because of personal effort than their graduating from a shooting nursery.

The shooters are aware of the mountain they have to climb and aren’t so sure they will do it by 2008.And they are painfully aware of the gulf in opportunities. ‘‘The Chinese sportspersons get a lot of incentives, that’s missing in our country,” said a top shooter.

They are mainly unaware of the importance of modern training methods or a scientific backup. One of the new faces of this year said he couldn’t recall when he last had his eyes checked (a routine affair for top shooters). ‘‘I just go to the range and do my practice. At home my father guides me. In the camps I take the help of the foreign coach.’’

What about psychiatrists, meditational experts? Most experienced shooters try and avoid them because it only comes about at the eleventh hour. ‘‘We see them just before leaving on a foreign trip, not before that. And nobody likes to change his mind-set at that crucial moment. Or get some medical tips’’, a shooter said.

THERE is still a long way to go for Beijing. Much can happen over the next three years. Some medals may even come our way at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne next March but the litmus test will be the Asian Games in Doha, where the Chinese and Koreans will be in attendance.

That’s what Sethi, too, advises. ‘‘Doha will give a true picture of our performance.’’ One hopes the picture changes drastically from how it is today.