Rathore146;s target in sight now

Beijing medal is the current mission for Athens silver-winner

Once a champion, always a champion. Believing this dictum to the core, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore is training his gun at the bigger task ahead, in Beijing. The path, he knows, is strewn with a lot of thorns, but he is confident of maintaining his Athens reputation, if not shoot down the coveted gold in August 2008.

Speaking to The Indian Express two days after finishing with the Slovenia assignment in Ljubljana, the Athens silver medallist said shooting was tutu bene Slovenian for 8216;all OK8217;.

8220;I have my mission, my goals, my targets and I can see myself moving towards them, slow and steady.8221;

He shot 140 and missed a place in the finals by two points to end ninth.

The icon of Indian shooting, Rathore did take his time in claiming the 8216;quota8217; place in double trap for the Beijing Games. He won it in Cairo last year. But he did not drop his gun neither before when he lost his 8216;lucky8217; gun in transit, thanks to Lufthansa8217;s mistake, nor after the Egypt World Cup. Instead, he kept things in right perspective and went ahead with participation in almost all the World Cups, including the last one in the series in Slovenia.

8220;The idea was first to assess my own strengths and weaknesses, eliminate them one by one and, two, study my likely opponents in Beijing, their style and pattern. And then, the pressure situations and how to come out of them.8221;

Is he happy with the form so far? 8220;Of course, I absolutely know what I am doing and how to go about it closer to the main event. There is never a slump in my form and am shooting fine,8221; he said.

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Rathore has not thought of using any new gun and is happy with the one he is using now. Asked if he faced any difficulty with any particular range or the conditions, he replied in the negative saying: 8220;These are things one should anticipate and adjust accordingly. For me the important thing is performance of the individual. Believe me, it doesn8217;t come easy.8221;

For the moment, his immediate task is a few days8217; rest before getting back to the drawing board in order to prepare for the September Shotgun World Championships in Cyprus. He expects the field to be a 8220;great one8221; as all top guns would be aiming for it. 8220;Shooting in elite company would be a great experience in itself,8221; he said.

When asked if he was thinking of hiring a coach before the Beijing Games, Rathore8217;s parting shot was as sharp and precise as his peers the world over would vouch for. 8220;My biggest coach is my own mind. I do work with others, I am always learning from all that is happening around me.8221;