Difficult to maintain momentum: Gagan Narang

India ended their indoor shooting campaign at the Aoti Shooting Range here on a rather disastrous note on Thursday.

Apart from Vijay Kumar’s bronze medal in men’s 25m centre fire pistol, none of the shooters, including Gagan Narang were able to impress, as South Korea and China continued their dominance in the sport.

Narang, India’s brightest medal hope, said it was difficult to produce the same level of intensity as the recently concluded Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

“For us, the Commonwealth Games was the focus as it was in India and we did well in it. For the Chinese the Asian Games are in their country and their focus is on it,” he reasoned.

“No one comes here to lose. Everyone tries his best, sometimes things go your way, sometimes they don’t,” Narang said. “It is about maintaining your momentum, some shooters were able to do that, some were not,” he said.

Narang, however, said it had been a good year for him, referring to his gold medal-winning effort at the world championships and the spectacular show at the CWG.

He added the Indian shooters, especially in the 50m, needed better rifles and more ammunition if they are to compete with the world’s best. “We will need around 100,000 rounds of ammunition for training for the Olympics and better quality rifle. I expect improvement in the 50m rifle, but better quality of ammunition is absolutely necessary,” said Narang.