PUNE: If there is one shooter that Abhinav Bindra’s mentor Amit Bhattacharjee is willing to bet his money on winning a medal at the upcoming Olympic Games, it is Saurabh Chaudhary.
Bhattacharjee, who was part of Abhinav Bindra’s journey of winning India’s first and only Olympic individual gold medal post-Independence, believes the young pistol shooter has the best temperament to win a medal compared to his teammates.
“Saurabh is a very good bet. I feel his concentration towards his game seems to be maximum as compared to his teammates,” Bhattacharjee, who has witnessed five Olympics with Abhinav, told TOI.
Amit Bhattacharjee and Abhinav Bindra
He also said that the current crop of Indian shooters were talented and could win medals on their day. “They are capable of winning even 5-6 medals. They have got the best scientific facilities, best coaching methods, right from the beginning of their careers. On their day, they can beat the big names,” he said.
However, Bhattacharjee had a word of caution. “Though they have been shooting at the top level and winning medals, their exposure pressure is less,” he said.
“The young shooters have been shooting only for the past two-three years, unlike their senior teammates. They still lack experience, which comes by participating in more tournaments.
“At present, they have worked on themselves more, but in my opinion, they haven’t worked to study their opponents, which is crucial in shooting.”
The mind trainer also said that less time on the circuit also means lack of experience in handling crisis situations.
“When there is a situation, there has to be a response. But in between the situation and the response, lies reaction. The reaction comes with experience, exposure to crisis situations and going through hardships,” he said.
“If you remember how Abhinav (Bindra) could handle the situation in Beijing when his sight of his rifle was out or when his rifle fell on the ground ahead of his match in Rio. He could manage the crisis well and he was better prepared to handle similar things,” Bhattacharjee said.
“I feel senior shooters like Sanjeev Rajput and Tejaswini Sawant would be better prepared if, God forbid, some unexpected thing happens.
“We all saw what happened with Jitu Rai in Rio. He couldn’t lift himself up after hitting an 8 during the qualification,” he added.
All said and done, Bhattacharjee felt India were better placed to win medals, including the coveted gold.
“Three things — perseverance, patience and resilience — among the young shooters is better than their seniors,” he said.
“The good part about the young shooters is that they don’t over analyse, and it is a good thing. I hope they have faith in themselves and the day is for them and Indian flag rises up again.”
