Monday, Aug 26, 2002
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Shooting
By Our Special Correspondent
Anjali Vedpathak Bhagwat, who won the silver in the shooting World Cup in Munich on Saturday.
``She is simply great'', said the national chief coach Prof. Sunny Thomas as he called from Coimbatore to share the happy tiding of Anjali Vedpathak Bhagwat winning the silver in the World Cup shooting finals in Munich, Germany. It was a display of her mental toughness that the 32-year-old CISF Inspector from Mumbai was able to retain her composure after the euphoria of the four gold medals in the Commonwealth Games and the ensuing celebrations at home. It was only a logical culmination of her tremendous form through the season that saw Anjali reach the pinnacle, as she emerged the best among men and women, in a special event being conducted by the ISSF at the end of the World Cup final. Vladimir Gontcharov of Russia emerged the `Champion of Champions' in air pistol in the special event open for men and women. The Champions Trophy competition is restricted to the medal winners in the World Cup final. In a combined field of men and women, four shots are fired. The lowest total gets the shooter eliminated, and the process goes on with each shot thereafter till two remain. The two fire three shots each and the best total of these three shots fetches the trophy and 2500 Euros. It was indeed a huge boost to her pride that Anjali was able to beat everyone in the competition, sponsored by the electronic manufacturer Sius Ascor of Switzerland. In the women's event, with the champions of the four World Cups apart from the reigning world champion in the fray, not to forget the two-time world champion Sonja Pfeilschiefter, Anjali was not exactly a favourite for a medal. The fact that she beat two world record-holders and a host of world class shooters in finishing second behind Russian Lioubov Galkina was indeed a fabulous effort. The diligent training that she had undertaken with the erstwhile coach of the Indian team, Laszlo Szucsak for a fortnight before the World championship in Lahti, was paying rich dividends at last. Even Szucsak had not expected Anjali to do this level, though he has a high regard for her capabilities. It was the third time in the year that Anjali shot a 399 out of 400. She had done it once in the European circuit, in which she bagged three gold, three silver and a bronze medal in eight competitions, right at the beginning of the year. The second time was when she clinched the silver in the World Cup in Atlanta, behind Galkina in May. Anjali had shot 398 twice in winning the gold medals in the pairs and individual event in the Commonwealth Games.
That has been the beauty of Anjali's competitivenes this year, her ability to strike the electronic targets with tremendous accuracy, despite not getting to practise on them at home. She has apparently mastered the technique through yoga and meditation. Talking about the European circuit, it may be recalled that the Indian shooters, including Anjali, paid for their expenses to the tune of one lakh rupees each, as the government had expressed its ability to find the funds for them then, for the eight competitions spread over three weeks in three countries. It is on such individual commitments has the progress been made this season. Among the Indians, Abhinav Bindra had made the World Cup finals in the last two years, but was not able to capitalise on that. Arti Singh had made the World Cup finals in skeet, but could not assert herself, as she struggled with a loss of form. In the world of Indian shooting, Anjali Vedpathak Bhagwat, is a cut above the rest. The only second Indian woman to make an Olympic final, Anjali has progressed in a phenomenal fashion after the Sydney Olympics despite the fact that the Indian rifle shooters are without a professional coach for the last two years. Anjali had shot a 493.1 with a 394 in the preliminary phase in the Sydney Olympics. Modest figures, compared to her current form, when she is threatening to hit the world record any moment. There could have been another world level medal but for the refusal of the Italian Embassy to extend visa for Anjali and four other shooters for the World Cup in Milan. Thus, Anjali has an excellent strike rate of three silver medals in five world level competitions this season. Anjali opted to take her coach for many years Sanjay Chakravarti for the World Cup Finals, as a splendid gesture to a man who had taught her sound basics and has been training the shooters of Maharashtra for many years. It is indeed a moment of great happiness and nostalgia for Anjali, her husband Mandar Bhagwat, her coaches and the shooting fraternity. The best, perhaps, is yet to come, as Anjali gets ready for the next challenge, the Asian Games in Busan. ``The Chinese and the Koreans will be under pressure in the Asian Games to shoot in the company of Anjali'', said Prof. Thomas, the guru of shooting in the country, fittingly awarded the Dronacharya Award. Having considerably devalued its awards, the Indian government may struggle to find a suitable award to recognise Anjali Vedpathak Bhagwat next year.
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