Unfazed Anjali aims for Asian Games now

Sydney: "My target is the 2002 Asian Games." The soft-spoken and smiling shooting star, Anjali Vedpathak, displayed no trace of disappointment as she finished last among a field of eight finalists in the air rifle event at the Sydney Olympics Saturday.

"I am happy with my performance. I was confident of getting into the last (final) round," she said. "I was under pressure" before the preliminary round began, she admitted. "But after I shot 99, I was relaxed, I knew I could get into the final," the 30-year-old inspector with the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), said.

"My target is the 2002 Asian Games. I am preparing for that and I am happy with it," she said. Anjali had made the finals of the World Cup and the Grand Prix competition in the Czech Republic earlier this year, besides figuring in the final of the Asian championships.

"Getting entry into the Olympics has boosted my confidence. I was not overawed by the occasion." She admitted that arriving early in Sydney had helped her to adjust to the conditions here.

But she also has a small grouse, "I wish we have some good international-level facilities back home. It would make lot of difference." She also gave a lot of credit to her Hungarian coach, Laszlo Szucsak. "He is a good teacher," she said.

As for Szucsak, he was happy with Anjali's showing. "Getting into the Olympic final round is itself a big achievement. Anjali has done the country proud," he said. Another of Szucsak's trainees, Abhinav Bindra, is also participating in the Games.

India Abroad News Service