ISSF Shooting World Cup: Gurpreet Singh counts positives after COVID scare, below-par show – Sports News , Firstpost

New Delhi: It has been a strange World Cup for Gurpreet Singh. The 33-year-old represented India at the 2016 Rio Olympics in 25-metre rapid-fire and 10-metre air pistol categories, and was justifiably hoping to book a spot in his second Games. However, a run of ordinary form dating back to pre-COVID days ensured that his, and India’s, chances of a representation in the 25-metre event are all but over.

While 18-year-old Vijayveer Sidhu showed spark with a silver-winning performance on Thursday (26 March), Gurpreet could manage only a sixth-place finish in his pet event. A day later, the armyman from Mhow was pipped to the post by Sidhu again, this time in the mixed-team category.

Tejaswini, 16, and Sidhu completed a comprehensive 9-1 win over the Gurpreet-Abhidnya Ashok Patil combine in the non-Olympic event to leave the senior shooter with a bit of soul searching to do.

In the individual category, Gurpreet entered the final with the second-highest qualifying score in the field (581) but was the first finalist to be eliminated. He believes the team, as a whole, needs to get its act together in the big finals.

“I think shot okay in individual, although I need to improve my scores. Also, I think we as a team need to work on our performance in the finals. I don’t think our shooting is world-class in finals.”

Gurpreet’s build-up for the World Cup hit a wall when he tested positive for COVID-19 last week. A second RT-PCR test turned negative, followed by another negative result on 24 March — the day of the pre-event training (PET) — which eventually cleared his participation.

However, he was in quarantine till his second negative report, which meant he lost out on crucial practice. He couldn’t even do dry training in his room as shooters are required to deposit their weapons at the range and not take them to their hotel.

“It was a very boring phase. Looking back, I think my training was affected due to COVID positive result. I was in quarantine even after the second report was negative. I stepped out only after the second negative report, and by then, it was time for PET. The result came on the day of the PET itself. I missed about three-four days of training,” he said.

National pistol coach Samresh Jung concurs. “Yes, that could be a reason for his below-par shooting. He couldn’t do dry practice as guns are not allowed in hotels. More than the training, shooters miss the feel of the gun and the range,” he told Firstpost.

“I spoke to Gurpreet while he was in quarantine. I spoke to him as a former COVID positive person. I advised him some precautions and tried to make sure he remains calm. Luckily, he turned negative the very next day. He was quarantined for three-four days after turning negative. This could be one of the reasons for his below-par show,” Jung, who contracted COVID in June 2020, added.

While quarantine was a frustrating period, Gurpreet is still in disbelief over how, after following all the protocols and precautions, he and his roommate tested positive. He had even asked his relatives not to visit him at the team hotel to safeguard him from any likely infections. Once the results came, the imminent possibility of his World Cup being over before him even competing did hit him hard.

“It was a shocker because we were taking all possible precautions, we never stepped out, and showed absolutely no symptoms. There is no way to ascertain where I caught the virus. I don’t know whether the samples got mixed or there was a problem with testing, but I turned negative just the next day. But that first day when I was positive, I thought my tournament is over.”

There was a silver lining though. Gurpreet had tried a newer, upgraded version of his pistol in one of the earlier training sessions, and was finding it tough to deal with the pronounced recoil. A COVID positive result and the quarantine that ensued made sure that his return was too close to the competition, convincing Gurpreet to chuck the experiment.

“Both guns are from the same brand, but the newer ones, that are provided at the range, recoil more. I am used to shooting from my inferior pistol. Also, I feel the upgraded gun shoots faster. It is a better gun, no doubt, but I am yet to adjust to it completely. I shot with my old personal weapon as it was too close to competition to try something new.”

This is not the first time that COVID unwittingly helped Gurpreet. After a bad 2019 that saw him being dropped from the national team, he was contemplating a six-month break to try and take his mind off shooting.

“Before the pandemic, I was not shooting well. I needed a break of five or six months. Then, COVID came along, lockdown happened, and the whole world got a break.

“However, when the Army reopened their ranges, the focus was mostly on air rifle. When you don’t have a competition to look forward to, you tend to lose some motivation to train as well. Then came the trials, which gave me an opportunity to finally train properly.”

Opportunity missed

Gurpreet understands that the team missed a real opportunity in failing to earn a possible quota in the 25-metre event. Anish Bhanwala, the teenaged shooting sensation, was billed as country’s best hope to win a gold and earn 1,000 ranking points to stake a claim for the quota. As it turned out, Bhanwala had an off day and Estonia’s Peeter Olesk defeated Sidhu in a shoot-off to shut the door on the hosts.

India are technically still in the quota race via ranking points, but their fate rests with Olesk’s performance at the European Championships. A gold there will earn Olesk a quota, opening up one spot for the highest-ranked shooter.

“It is disappointing. There were some conversations within the team about it. We had a good chance to win a quota at the Asian Championships too, but then we couldn’t do well when we counted. It is unfortunate. Whoever worked harder took the quota, it’s simple.”

Jung admitted to the same. “We were hoping for a quota in 25-metre pistol men’s, but that happens. As sportspersons, we need to accept that and move on.”

Gurpreet, meanwhile, has already started thinking of the next Olympics.

“The conditions at practice are very different from the actual competition or the final, so the main goal coming into the World Cup was to take our practice form to the final. Now that we have missed the quota, we have already started preparing for the 2024 Olympics. I also need more preparation time for 25-metre individual event. No amount of practice or hard work is ever enough,” he said.