Heartbroken at not being part of India's successful CWG shooting squad, pistol ace Shahzar makes weapon talk again by bagging silver at ISSF World Cup
Shahzar Rizvi after winning silver at the ISSF World Cup in South Korea yesterday. Pic/PTI
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Pistol shooter Shahzar Rizvi was all smiles yesterday after winning a silver medal (239.8 points) in the 10m air pistol event at the ISSF World Cup in Changwon, Korea. But a few months ago, he was heartbroken when he learnt that he was not picked into India's Gold Coast-bound Commonwealth Games shooting squad.
Major frustration
"I remember, he was training with me in Pune and nearly broke down because this meant that he might never shoot in a CWG since the 2022 edition in Birmingham has excluded shooting. And with the next edition in 2026, he felt who knows where he would be then? But thankfully, Shahzar has successfully channelised his anger, frustration, arrogance... everything into his game and the results are there for all to see," coach Pandit told mid-day over the phone from Changwon yesterday.
This is the second international event since Rizvi learnt of his absence from the CWG team. At the first, his maiden ISSFâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088World Cup in Mexico, in March, he won gold shooting a world record 242.3 points.
India's shooters returned from the Gold Coast CWG with as many as 16 medals, and Rizvi, 23, was obviously hurting more now. Coach Pandit said it was difficult to convince him after the CWG snub but his ultimate aim, an Olympic medal, is what's keeping the Meerut lad going. "For now, Shahzar's aim is the 52nd ISSF World Championships which is at this same venue [August 31 to September 15]. We are focussing on things like getting acclimatised to conditions, venue, etc here, so that when he returns in Aug-Sept, he will be in a familiar setting and that will make it a lot easier.
I'm expecting a gold medal from him at the World Championships. Today, he narrowly missed the gold [he fell short by 0.2 points as Russia's Artem Chernousov took top spot with a score of 240].
Olympic quota spot
"The World Championships is also a qualification event to clinch a quota spot for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and that's what is on Shahzar's mind right now," added Pandit.
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