With champion Dad by his side,Parr Jr shoots for the stars

But with each result comes a bigger test of their father-son,coach-trainee combination. “It’s very difficult because of the relationship between us. But it is enjoyable at times,enjoyable when he does well,and disappointing when he doesn’t,” the coach,who was part of England’s shooting team when the first Commonwealth Shooting Championships were held at the Dr Karni Singh Stadium in 1995,says.

Saturday’s 10m rifle individual final,which was won by Gagan Narang,was one of those days. The youngster was doing well to stay with the leaders but fell away in the last 20 shots to finish fifth. “He took his focus off the technique and thought about the results. When you do that,mistakes creep in,” Parr says of his son.

Parr Jr understands his father’s frustrations behind some of his criticisms,especially after Saturday’s performance. “I made a mistake on shot No 30 where I shot an eight and that put me down. For the last 20 shots,he asked me ‘What were you doing? You never shoot like that,so why now?’ He is constantly questioning me and that’s not a problem. Hopefully I’ll do better in the 3-position event.”

But Dad always has big expectations. “It’s interesting. If you are doing something wrong,he’ll tell you how to get over it,but if you are doing well,because he is your dad,he doesn’t let you have it easy. He’s always hard on me,but I think that is good because he’s only pushing me to get better,” Parr Jr says.