Can the
decorated trap shooter achieve something in Rio that has eluded him the past
three times?
At 40, Sandhu can create history at the Games by winning his first Olympic medal
Manavjit Singh Sandhu is
one of the most decorated trap shooters in the world. He specialises in trap shooting and Rio will
be his fourth Olympics. Qualifying for the Olympics for a fourth consecutive
time at the age of 40 does indicate the level of consistency Manavjit has
had over the course of the last 16 years.
He started his professional
international career in 1995 when he finished 44th in the trap
shooting event at the Asian Championships held in Chengdu City. Since then, the
experienced shooter has participated in 94 international events (as per the ISSF
records) during his career. He has worked hard to win gold medals in
various competitions but is yet to taste gold at the Asian and the Olympic
Games.
Ever since his early days as a
kid, Manavjit was inspired by his father who was also an Olympian for India.
Watching his father train and shoot for India had inspired Sandhu to take
up the sport. Manavjit’s achievements in the last 20 years of his career have
made the nation proud. But the shooter will look to add one more medal to his
tally to maybe finish off his career in the right manner at Rio.
Trap shooting is a form of shooting that very few
Indians choose but Manavjit has done well throughout his long career. He is the
only Indian shooter to have been ranked number one in the world back in
2006.
However, his form dipped afterwards but going
into Rio, the shooter looks confident and set to make his mark. However,
it is not just the shooting training that can help him. It is also the mental
and psychological conditioning that helps shooters like Sandhu prepare for the
big events.
Sandhu first tasted success internationally when he
won a gold medal in the trap shooting team event at the 1998 Commonwealth Games
held in Kuala Lumpur. But the most satisfying period of his career came after 8
years when he won major tournaments in 2006.
He won the gold medal at the ISSF World Shooting
Championships in Zagreb along with a silver medal in the team event. In the
same year, he also went on to win a silver and bronze medal at the ISSF World
Cup in Kerrville and at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne respectively.
Manavjit Singh Sandhu’s major achievements so far:
Gold – 1998
Commonwealth Games, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Gold – 2006 ISSF
World Shooting Championships, Zagreb, Croatia.
Gold – 2010 ISSF
World Cup, Acapulco.
Gold – 2014 ISSF
World Cup, Tucson.
Silver – 1998 Asian
Games, Bangkok.
Silver – 2002 Asian
Games, Busan.
Silver – 2006 Asian
Games, Doha.
Silver – 2006 ISSF
World Cup, Kerrville.
Silver – 2006 ISSF
World Shooting Championships, Zagreb, Croatia.
The former world number one would go on to grab two
more medals that year – two silver medals at the Doha Asian Games in trap
individual and team events. His journey ever since has been a
roller-coaster ride.
Sandhu has not been consistent enough to be able to
qualify as the favorite for Rio but the National Rifle
Association of India (NRAI) deemed him as the better option ahead of two-time
Olympian Sanjeev Rajput.
In recent years, Sandhu has won two major
medals – a gold medal at the 2014 ISSF World Cup in Tucson
and a bronze medal at the 2015 ISSF World Cup held in Acapulco. He
will have tough competition from the likes of Spain’s Alberto Fernandez,
Slovakia’s Erik Varga and Czech Republic’s Jiri Liptak – all of whom are
currently ranked in the top-3. Sandhu will also have to deal with fellow
Indian Kynan Chenai in the trap event.
Posted by Thom Erik Syrdahl
Source - http://www.sportskeeda.com/shooting/rio-olympics-2016-analysing-manavjit-singh-sandhus-medal-chances-rio
