Medals will be easy at CWG: Anjali Bhagwat

The recent spate of gold medals by India's young shooters in the ISSF World Cup in Mexico and the junior World Cup in Sydney has made them a force to reckon with at the world stage, said former Olympian Anjali Bhagwat.

With the Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Gold Coast, Australia, less than a week away, Bhagwat said Indian shooters will win "80 per cent" of the medals that are at stake.
Bhagwat, a former world No. 1 in 10m air rifle, said that the National Rifle Association of India's "focus on juniors in the last four years is yielding good results now".

"All our juniors are shooting equally well like the seniors. They are giving tough competition to senior shooters. As a result, half of the Indian contingent is of fresh blood. That makes a great combination. The senior shooters always have pressure while performing whereas the newcomers have nothing to lose. They have to go and shoot, they have to support the senior shooters for team purpose," Bhagwat said here on Thursday.
"At the same time, they have given consistent scores at the world level. They are in a good mindset. They are confident of their performances. This combination will help us have good results in CWG."

The three-time Olympian said the juniors are peaking at the right time in this Asian Games year.
"The preparation has been so fantastic for the past two years. We have had good exposures, good competitions and the right processes of selection. The federation policies are very good. We messed it up last time in Rio. Our policies were not in place, we did not follow planning or schedule given by the federation.

"This time everything is in place. We have had good competition, good training, good exposure. They have peaked at the right time. There is no pressure of winning. Medals will be easy at the CWG," she added.
Bhagwat, along with badminton ace Aparna Popat and India hockey captain of yesteryear, Viren Rasquinha, wished the Indian contingent well for CWG in association with the broadcasters that will beam live the CWG action from April 4-15.

The 48-year-old Bhagwat said that beating shooters from Australia, Singapore and Britain in recent competitions hold Indians in good stead.
"They have that confidence and the opponents have fear. Previously, Indians would go, compete and come back. When they started winning, people thought 'India may win this time'. Now, India have become a threat. When Indian shooters enter the competition, they are like 'wow, India has come'. That hype we have gained."

A factor for the recent boost in shooters' performances is partly due to the federation having faith in local coaches, Bhagwat pointed out.
"The overall scenario has changed," the 2000 Sydney Games finalist said. "The federation has shown faith in local coaches, which has helped a lot. You have to train the athletes in such a way that they get mental support, which we could not establish with foreign coaches. We always had some problem or the other. They expect everything to be perfect.

"Whereas in India, you have to fight, struggle for each and every point, right from the accessories, the training camp, the place and the schedule. But local coaches know our mental attitude, know our policies, know our mental culture. That way, they can mould our athletes and prepare them mentally strong. It has really shown good results. That way, Deepali (Deshpande) and Jaspal (Rana), who have taken up the responsibilities of the junior squads, are on the right track," Bhagwat said.
Bhagwat felt that a good performance in CWG will pave the way for Asian Games, which will be held in Indonesia in August-September this year.

"We have to really show good work in CWG because Asian Games will be tougher than Olympics. In Olympics, you have two competitors from each country. In Asiad, we will have three from each country. That will be tough competition for us with Koreans, Chinese and a few Russians participating through Kazhakhstan, Turkmenistan entering the field. We have very tough competition there. But, we also have very good shooters like Heena Sidhu, Jitu Rai, Kynan Chenai, who are in the top 5 world rankings. Definitely we will win medals (in Asiad) but not like the CWG."

Asked what the junior shooters need to do from now on as they graduate to senior competitions, Bhagwat said: "Once that winning habit is inculcated in you, it becomes very easy. Even if you lose, you don't feel disgraced. You will not be thrown out of the picture. You have the confidence that 'I have won so many, this competition has gone and the next one is coming up'. That mindset is different when you win throughout the year. We also have Asian Games and then we have world Championships where we have six quotas available for the Olympic Games."