Golden man signs off with bronze

After the 15th shot, Abhinav Bindra was fourth among as many medal contenders. In short, he was hoping to stay alive in the 10 metres air rifle event on Tuesday.

Having already declared that he would only be a "hobby shooter" hereafter, Bindra was faced with the uphill task of overturning a 0.7-point deficit. He also needed some 'help' from Iranian shooter Pourya Norouziyan, who had to mess up for Bindra to win another medal, his last as an out-of-out "professional".

Bindra, India's only individual Olympic gold medallist till date, fired yet another shot in a hurry. He scored a 10.5. Two Chinese shooters, who eventually won gold and silver, were the next to complete their shots. The pressure was building on Norouziyan, who had to shoot within the stipulated 50 seconds. He needed to score a 10 or better to clinch the bronze medal.

"Was this Bindra's last competitive shot?" asked an Indian supporter. Just then, the Iranian pulled the trigger. Moments later, the crowd let out an "ouch" as the scoreboard displayed his first nine-pointer (9.6). Bindra's tactics of shooting early to put pressure on his opponent paid off. And it fetched him his first Asian Games individual medal. He exited after two more shots with an aggregate of 187.1, behind China's Haoran Yang (209.6) and Yifei Cao (208.9) to finish third.

Bindra's exit has certainly left shooting experts with many questions to answer.

With India's most celebrated shooter choosing to sign off at the age of 32 (his birthday falls on September 28). This despite the fact that he has "started enjoying the game and had fallen in love with it". So the big question is: does any shooter actually enjoy the sport?

Bindra could well be shooting for a medal at the Rio Games in 2016. But by deciding to train just twice a week, coming through the National Rifle Association of India's rigorous selection policy may not be easy.

One would imagine that the 20-year-long training schedule has taken a toll on Bindra. Most shooters agree the sport is not like football or tennis, which one enjoys playing. In his book, A Shot At History: My Obsessive Journey To Olympic Gold, Bindra described shooting as a "joyless sport".

Even shooter Shweta Chaudhary, who opened the account for India at Incheon, said after her bronze that "shooters are not happy." "It's not a happy sport. But who knows if someone can stay happy without shooting. It would probably make him more unhappy," Chaudhary said. "If shooting enters your emotions then certainly you won't enjoy it for long," said Bindra's fellow shooter, Omkar Singh. "In order to enjoy shooting, you have to stay detached," added the Arjuna awardee.

Shooting is all about keeping control over one's emotions. From heart rate to breathing process, nothing is supposed to affect you. "This is a lonely sport. You practise alone. And even with so many spectators around, you can't afford to get excited. Finally, you get to shoot in a competition as a loner," explained the Delhi Commonwealth Games gold medallist.

Rapid fire shooter Harpreet Singh, too, agreed with Singh. So much so that he sometimes "thinks of quitting the sport and enjoying life". "But then you get back to training. You miss those gun shots and your pistol."

Bindra had told dna on his arrival in Incheon that his "attitude has changed now". The amount of "blind-mindedness" he had from 2004 to 2008 is hard to replicate now. "You get a lot of mental diseases being like that," he had said.

But no, Bindra is not "dumb" as he claims to have turned lately. He may still come back and train madly if he misses the sport. But for now, let him relax and find life outside the shooting range.

BINDRA'S MEDAL CABINET
Olympics
Gold in 10m air rifle, 2008 Beijing
World Championship
Gold in 10m air rifle, 2006 Zagreb
Commonwealth Games
Gold in 10m air rifle (Pairs), 2002 Manchester
Silver in 10m air rifle (Singles), 2002 Manchester
Gold in 10m air rifle (Pairs), 2006 Melbourne
Bronze in 10m air rifle (Singles), 2006 Melbourne
Gold in 10m air rifle (Pairs), 2010 New Delhi
Silver in 10m air rifle, 2010 New Delhi
Gold in 10m air rifle, 2014 Glasgow
Asian Games
Silver in 10m air rifle (Team), 2010 Guangzhou
Bronze in 10m air rifle, 2014 Incheon
Bronze in 10m air rifle (Team), 2014 Incheon

DID YOU KNOW?
Abhinav Bindra is the only Indian to have won a World Championship gold, Olympic gold, Asian Championship gold, Commomwealth Games gold and an Asian Games medal