Rathore, Sodhi caught in a double trap

With the mystery of missing guns unsolved, the duo battles to get ‘gun-fit’

It’s been exactly a week since Colonel Rajyavardhan Rathore lost his prized Perazzi. But there are still no leads as to where the weapon could be.

The Olympic silver medallist was returning home after bagging the double-trap gold and a coveted Olympic quota place at the ISSF World Cup in Cairo last week, when upon disembarking his Lufthansa flight, found the weapon missing.

The incident gets curiouser, for 10 days before, the same airlines misplaced fellow trap-shooter, Birendeep Singh Sodhi’s weapon.

Today, after a hush-hush ‘‘fact-finding’’ negotiation with Werner Heesen, director, South Asia, Lufthansa Airlines, Rathore appeared downcast.

‘‘I’m very disturbed that the gun has vanished. Whether it was intentional, or a mistake, it’s one thing to lose a piece of baggage, but to lose a gun is a serious security concern.’’

Burdened under the weight of over a billion expectations, Rathore said that the incident will set him back in his training at least six-seven months. ‘‘Trying to adjust to a new gun always results in a drop in performance. If you remember, soon after the Athens Olympics, I switched to a new gun, and you guys (the media) were writing about how my performances had dipped,’’ he said.

‘‘Now, with the world championships looming large and Doha Games to follow in December, this is definitely a serious setback at a critical stage.’’

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The shooters don’t seem enthused about receiving a robust compensation package from the airlines. ‘‘Nothing can replace a gun you’re used to. But we can’t keep brooding over the loss. I’ve already ordered a new weapon and it should arrive in the next ten days. I’m not saying we can’t do without the original. Just that it will now be an uphill task to get back into shape,’’ said Rathore

The incident could turn into a legal wrangle and the presence of Rathore’s advocates from Paras Kuhad & Associates suggested that. But a harried-looking Heesen told The Indian Express that the airline was ‘‘leaving no stone unturned’’ to locate the firearm. ‘‘We realise how this could affect the sportsmen’s careers, their rankings, their earnings…,’’ he said.