Sunday, Jul 14, 2002
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Shooting
By Kamesh Srinivasan
Trailing by six points behind the leaders, some of the very best in the business in pistol shooting, Jaspal Rana was keeping his fingers crossed at 290 in the precision round of the centrefire pistol event in the 48th World Shooting Championship at the Sports Centre here on Saturday. ``The competition is tomorrow. Whatever I get today is only a bonus'', said Jaspal, as he scrutinised the scoreboard, for a possible upward jump on the morrow. He had done it before, winning the gold with a 298 in the rapidfire series after a 290 in the precision round. But, that was in the Asian Games in Hiroshima eight years ago. ``The biggest trouble is the World Championships comes before the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games. This was only my first competition for the season internationally for standard pistol and centrefire pistol. We have three matches in badge, pairs and individual events in the Commonwealth Games. Then, there is preparation and then the Asian Games. That is how we do well there'', said Jaspal, who had to settle for the silver with a 589 in the last Asian Games in Bangkok. That may be sound reasoning from the champion shooter, who has won medals by the dozen in international competitions. The point at the moment is, how to break into the medal bracket, with the start he has given himself. Only time will tell. Jaspal had rounds of 96, 98 and 96 as his five-shot series hovered from 47 to 50. He had the sixth best score, as Daryl Szarenski of the U.S. led with a 296, followed by the `shooter of the year', Mikhail Nestruev of Russia at 294. Incidentally, both the top shooters have booked their berths for the Athens Olympics in the 10-metre air pistol event, which goes to show their overall mastery. Franck Dumoulin of France at 291 has also an Olympic quota in the 50-metre free pistol event. So, it is indeed going to be a tall order for Jaspal to break a classy field, with his expertise in "duelling''. Who knows? ``I should have got three or four more points. But it is tough to touch such form straightaway. For the first competiiton, it is fine. Actually, this World Championship should come as the last meet of the calendar'', said Jaspal. While that was the situation for Jaspal, who shot his targets with great speed on a bright sunny morning, his compatriots Ashok Pandit and Mahavir Singh were not far behind as they returned scores of 286 each. The seasoned Ashok Pandit's form fluctuated from the brilliant to the average, as he shot cards of 92, 100 and 94. In fact, his was only the third 100 of the day, and the other two were shot by Szarenski and Nestruev. Not a mean achievement in a field of 60 shooters. ``I am disappointed that I shot so badly, despite being in such good form. I needed to shoot around 291 or 292 to help the team to some position. It is tough to catch up in the world championship, because everyone above is shooting so well'', said Pandit, who has been representing the country with distinction from 1981. Mahavir shot rounds of 94, 96 and 96 to keep the team in contention, in the second relay, in which defending champion Byung Taek Park of Korea led with a 293. The Army lad, Mahavir was so steady that he had rounds of 47, 47, 48, 48, 48 and 48, in the six five-shot series. The silver and bronze medallists of the last championship in Barcelona, four years ago, Paal Hembre of Norway and Giovanni Bossi of Italy, were one point behind Jaspal at 289. More than anything, that should mean a lively competition on the morrow. The champion will need as much luck, as pluck. Friday's results: Men's 25m standard pistol: 1. Rene Vogn (Den) 580 (139), 2. Alexander Danilov (Isr) 580 (137), 3. Giovanni Bossi (Aut) 579, 7. Jaspal Rana 574, 47T. Samaresh Jung and Vivek Singh 555.
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