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Abhinav Bindra targets golden swansong at Rio

Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra aims to end with gold at Rio

A star-studded Indian shooting contingent will begin its Rio Olympics campaign here tomorrow with in-form Jitu Rai hoping to kickstart the country's medal hunt in an event which will also see his more illustrious compatriot Abhinav Bindra aiming to end his glorious career on a high.

 

Success in shooting will be key to India's hopes of surpassing the tally of six medals it won in London in 2012. For that, the performance of Jitu and Bindra would be crucial. Gagan Narang, Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Heena Sidhu and Apurvi Chandela could spring a surprise.

 

Shooters don't like to make noise outside the range and they go about in a low-key manner which has been their trademark, and Bindra's innocuous tweet 15 days ago that he would be incommunicado till his fifth and last Olympics campaign begins sums up the mood in the shooting camp.

 

 

 

 

 

Tipped to give India its second individual gold medal after Bindra, army man Jitu has emerged as the brightest hope and he opens his campaign in his favourite 10m air pistol event at the Olympic Shooting Centre tomorrow.

 

The pistol shooter from Uttar Pradesh is the  reigning world champion in 50m pistol and he will compete in both the events with an aim to make an unprecedented double in the Olympics.

 

Having won medals at the Asian Games (gold and bronze in Incheon 2014), Commonwealth Games (gold in Glasgow 2014), World Cup (two golds, three silvers and one bronze) and World Championships (silver in Granada 2014), the 'village lad' Jitu has made rapid strides since the last Olympics.

 

"I did not know what the Olympics were. I come from a village and like to stay that away," Jitu, the latest product of the Army Marksmanship Unit, said. If Jitu is making his Olympics debut, Bindra will perhaps be appearing in his fifth and possibly the last Summer Games, and would like to bow out on a high.

 

Four years after grabbing gold in Beijing, Bindra crashed to a 16th place finish in 2012 London. For this year's games, the ace shooter, who is known for his attention to detail, had created a Rio-like setting at his practice range back home.

 

"Shooting as a sport is all about perfection. The only way you can achieve success is by eliminating all the variables. Some you foresee and some you just cannot. In a sport like shooting, winning doesn't come easily. You have to suffer. You can't go in thinking you will return with a medal. It just doesn't work that way," said Bindra in his memoir 'My Olympic Journey'.

 

Having inspired a generation of young shooters, it will be in the fitness of things if the 32-year-old Bindra signs off on a high.

 

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