Bindra fails, but shows potential for future

Sydney: For the whole Bindra family life, it would seem revolves around the teenaged prodigy Abhinav. At 17 he is emerging as one of the finest shooters India has had.

And India, mind you has had the likes of world silver medallist, late Karni Singh and former Asian Games gold medallist Randhir Singh and in the new crop, Jaspal Rana.

Abhinav Bindra's father, a veterinary doctor in Chandigarh, has in fact devoted so much time to his son that he has left his practice in favour ofbusiness. And in their palatial home in Chandigarh, Abhinav has the luxury of a indoor air condition shooting range for his favourite event, the 10 metreAir Rifle.

The whole effort is surely not going waste as the proceedings of Monday showed. Still in his teens - he has barely passed out school, St Stephens inChandigarh - Bindra shows maturity that is beyond his years.

At 15 he had set a goal - to represent India at the Olympics - and now at 17 he has achieved it. Now at 17, he has another goal - an Olympic medal at21. He knows he can achieve that, too. Enroute, he sees the Asian Games and some other major championships as the stepping stones.

"I am sure I can do it," he says with a confidence that belies his age. His indulgent but serious father too knows that he has a prodigy on his hands.

China's Yalin takes gold with record effort

In Monday's competition, China's Cai Yalin shot 102.4 after his qualifying round score of 594 to take the gold with a total of 696.4, which was a final Olympic record.

Artem Khadjibekov of Russia, the defending champion, was second with 695.1, even though his 103.1 in the final round was the best. In the qualification he was only fifth and he surged ahead in the final. The bronze went to another Russian, Evgueni Aleinkov, who totalled 693.8 after lying sixth in the qualifiers.

Shooting in elite company, which included the Russian Artem Khadjibekov, the 1996 Olympic champion and Chinese Cai Yalin, the 1998 World champion, Bindra accquitted himself rather well.

In the pressure cauldron that's called the Olympics, which seemed to have to go to almost all shooters - as the scores indicate - Bindra shot 590 out of 600, which was six points short of his best, which he shot at the World Cup in Munich.

Interestingly Khadjibekov and Yalin had also shot 596 in the same meet in Munich, but the former won the gold with a fine effort in the final while Bindra finished fourth with a total of 697.7, a score that would have fetched him the gold here.

In Munich World Cup, the Russian took the gold, while Yalin was the bronze medallist. The silver went to Jean Pierre Amat of France, who today finished 18th in the qualifiers after shooting two points less than the Indian youngster.

All this indicates that Bindra has all it takes to be among the best in the world. And his coach, Hungarian, Laszla Szucsak, who also trains Anjali Vedpathak, agrees. "He is very good. He can win the Olympics and he is so young," he says.

India Abroad News Service