Manavjit Singh Sandhu is now a world no. 1. Indian shooters continue rise in rankings as Financial Express reports:

Trap shooter Manavjit Singh Sandhu’s gold medal finish at the recent World Championships at Zagreb in Croatia helped him notch the world No 1 spot in world rankings.

Abhinav Bindra, who claimed a gold in 10m air rifle, also climbed 24 places to second position. Olympic silver medallist Lt Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was fifth in the rankings in double trap.

Sportstar has an indepth profile on Manavjit. In another piece in the same issue of Sportstar, Kamesh Srinavasan reviews India’s most successful faring yet in the world championships.

I had blogged on Bindra winning gold a few weeks back. The creditable performance in Zagreb by the Indians was to be expected given the steady improvement of the Indian shooting contingent. Regardless of this, the performance is worth applauding.

I have noticed this phenomena - every time before the olympics, the media focuses on a few sports persons and think that they might win medals in the olympics. However, if you go into even a bit of detail regarding the given sportspersons, their track record isn’t usually notable.

You just don’t win olympic medals by showing up at olympics. There has to be performances to back you up and then, you have to have nerves of steel to deliver during the olympics. A lot of factors lead upto winning. Even if one small thing goes wrong, you can lose.

This time, the build up for the shooting contingent is going quite well and we are seeing new highs being reached each day. The one word to describe the Indian shooting contingent would be strong. That is usually not a word you associate with Indian sporting contingents. Usually it is talented or promising.

At the cost of sounding preachy, I will say this - this is a story which Indian sports fans should start following if they haven’t already.

That’s what Abhinav Bindra achieved as Telegraph reports:

Abhinav Bindra overcame back pain to become the first Indian shooter to win a World Championship gold in Zagreb on Monday. Dr Karni Singh’s silver in 1962 was the best by an Indian in a World Championship meet before Monday.

That no Indian had ever won a gold before is not surprising. After all, the shooting boom in India is not very old. The Indian shooting contingent for Beijing is looking stronger with each passing day. We have the likes of Narang, Samaresh Jung, Rathore and young guns like Bindra.

We disappointed tremendously last time in the Olympics but it will be shocking if we don’t win a few medals via shooting in Beijing. Here’s hoping the shooting contingent does India proud and I don’t have to write some thing on this topic again.

Update: Read Indian Express’ Navneet Singh write on Bindra coming back from the dead.

India’s ever increasing presence in the world shooting stage can be epitomised by Gagan Narang becoming World Number 1 in 10 metre Air Rifle.Narang won gold in the World Cup just after the Commonwealth Games as well. What’s more, he is just 22. Reports DNA:

Narang recently won a gold in the same event at the ISSF World Cup in Guangzhou and booked a berth in the Beijing Olympics. The feat propelled him to a whopping 18 places in the rankings and he becomes third Indian shooter after Anjali Bhagwat and Rajyavardhan Rathore to reach the top spot in the world.

India performced commendably in the Commonwealth Games (The Sportstarhad a good review which can be read here) and the Shooting World Cup. Samaresh Jung has called for liberal policies for importing shooting equipment needed. The government has already been encouraging after Rathore won silver in the Olympics in double trap as mentioned here.

The shooters are here. They cannot be ignored any longer. It is very heartening to see.

Indian Samaresh Jung has been adjudjed the best athlete of the Commonwealth Games for his performances. He now heads for the Shooting World Cup.

India has been steadily improving in shooting. The government has been supportive off late. I spoke about it here. It is not just a one off like say a P.T.Usha in Athletics. There is a bunch of shooters coming up. Vishwanathan Anand started the Chess revolution. Rajyavardhan Rathore may well be looked back upon as the trigger who helped India become an international force in shooting.

Its a day which will see substitutes used for the first time in limitied overs internationals. It is also another day for the sprinters in letour. I focus my attention on some less publicised but important stories which are accomplishments in their own right from Indian sports.

First the new Government gun law which frees shooting in the country.

The order issued by the Union Commerce Ministry — makes air rifles and pistols, the rudimentary weapons for all beginners, easily accessible. So long, it was a procedure restricted to a few and bound in red tape. This comes as a big relief for the shooting fraternity for whom trying to own a weapon had been an ordeal. A shooter first needed to finish among the top 25 at a national meet and later — after endless paperwork — obtain an import licence to get a foreign-made weapon. Now, all one needs to do to own an air weapon is register with a rifle club or state/district association.

This is indeed a landmark step in Indian shooting. My musings on the apathy of infrastructure in Indian shooting a few days ago weren’t necessary after all. Shooting is progressing well in the country with moves done to draw the crowds and bring in more shooters as well. The future of atleast one sport is very bright in the country.

The Hindu reports on the National Junior Aquatics meet day four where Veerdhaval Khade of Maharashtra created two new records before emerging the fastest swimmer of the 32nd Junior National Aquatic Championship, which passed into the fourth day on Wednesday. And it is not the only place Indian juniors are doing well. India entered the semis of the Junior Hockey World Cup as well.

Prasad, an intellectually challenged child needs support in the form of sponsorship. It is a pity people arent aware of this more. If any one is reading this blog and can help Prasad, please contact Hindu, get in touch with the guy’s father and do the requisite.

Some thing which bewilders me : I have read The Sportstar magazine for 13-14 years now and take pride int he fact that it maintains the price of Rs. 10. Why the online edition for Rs. 90!?

Off for breakfast, and then work. Hopefully will catch the letour and the one day match.

After Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won the silver meadal in shooting in the double trap event, how could India, corporate and the sport overall, not capitalise on the event.

So Indians will find Rathore in an event labelled Top Gun telecast on television. Whether it will be live or delayed telecast, is not clear from what I have read.

It has been termed as an attempt to experiment to make the sport more popular with a new format and TV coverage.

Apart from the rule modifications, there is so much more in this event. So much more noise to be specific. As Rathore says on NDTV:

There is generally a pin drop silence at shooting events. But people cheering and clapping when shooting is going on increases the pressure. I was feeling nervous, but I enjoyed it a lot.

Events such as these will certainly boost the viewership of the sport in the country to a small extent. It is India’s own version of Twenty20 cricket! MP Lok Sabha Naveen Jindal says they would like to organise five to six events and increase the total number of events to 15 or 20.

I dont think viewership and the quality of sportsmen a country produces is correlated though. India has the largest viewing public in cricket by a mile. By that logic, India should be miles ahead of Australia as a cricket team. Viewership can lead to people following a sport and hopefully some of these viewers will start following the sport.

What I want to know, though, is what is being done to impove the infrastructure of the sport over all in the country and whether the young aspiring shooters are being given the proper encouragement, both financially and training opportunities wise. Having such events which end in Formula 1 style celebrations in the end are good for television and good to get more people to follow the sport. It is good for the sport only if the people following can get a chance to become the best if they desire to.