5 May 2009. The results of the Indian team in the junior international competition at Suhl, Germany, in the last week of April were not very impressive. The Indians had to be contented with just three medals, one less what they bagged during the 2008 edition.

A drop in the performance (read medal tally) is never really an encouraging sign. The NRAI may come up with the excuse that the squad faced anxious moments prior to its departure. Had the shooters not faced official red tape --- the government cleared the team at the eleventh hour --- things might have been different.

Theoretically, it sounds a good justification. But practically, almost 80 per cent of the shooters who participated in the German competition failed to repeat their home performances --- or even come close to their best. Which should be a worrying factor for the federation. Of the three medals, shotgun shooters had a major share.

Asher Noria at the medal ceremony in Suhl

Riding on the individual brilliance of Asher Noria, who struck gold with a point less than the world record (145+45=190), the team also grabbed silver. The other members of the team were Sangram Dahiya (142+39) and Chetan Kumar Sansanwal (127).

The third medal --- silver in women’s 10m air rifle --- was bagged by Ayonkia Paul. The rifle shooter must be given full credit for their perseverance.

Paul was placed fourth (395) at the end of the preliminary round, but she kept her calm in the final round to score 102.8 that enabled her to climb the podium (497.8). She had won the gold in the 2008 edition with a lesser qualification score of 393.

After the contest, Paul must have realised how close it can get at the global level. A fraction of decimal did make Paul’s day in Suhl. The bronze-medallists, Yuki Hoshino of Japan, shot 497.4 (395+102.4). The eventual winner Nur Ayuni Farhan of Malaysia shot 500.2 (397+103.2). It was a bad day for Slovak shooter Ziva Dvorsak, who narrowly missed the podium. She shot 497 (394+103) to finish fourth.

Apart from Paul, the other Indian participants in the competition too had a close encounter in their respective events. In the same event, India’s Neha Sapte shot 390 --- three points less than her score in 2008 --- but finished 19th as compared to her 4th place finish last year. Shivangi Jhalani finished 31st with a score of 388.

Since the depth was huge in almost all the events, the country’s top junior shooter Rahi Sarnobat had to be contented with fourth place (561), in women 25m pistol event. Delhi-based Sanjana Chhabra who participated in her first international competition, finished fifth with a score of 560. To rank among the medallists, the Indians should have scored around 570. However, Rahi also made the cut in the 10m air pistol event. But eventually finished eighth amongst the finalists. In the preliminary round, she shot 371, but low score in the finals (91.6), put paid to her aspiration to improve her position.

Depth in the field also robbed Amit Kumar (men’s 50m pistol) and Farooq Ali (10m air pistol) to figure in the top eight in the tournament. The duo were within top ten in their respective events. The efforts of the other Indians in fray weren’t good enough to push them higher up the ladder. There was also disappointment from Mansi Singh who shot 47 to finish 20th in the women's trap event. Another Indian participant in the event -- Shreyasi Singh finished 11th with a score of 64.