Chateauroux: The sun finally broke through, literally, at the far away Chateauroux Shooting Centre, some 250km away from Paris, the weather cleared even for the Indian shooting team. The first hours of gloom on Saturday gave way for optimism and hope.
On Sunday, one more shooter stormed into the final. This time it was Ramita Jindal in the 10m air rifle. It was not until the final series, she picked up. Like she always maintained, it was not a strategy that she would want to finish slow but if it helped then she would not mind.
While Ramita was languishing in the 10-11 until the penultimate series, her teammate Elavenil Valarivan seemed absolutely in the zone. She was third-fourth and was sure to qualify but 9.8 in the final series pulled her out of the qualifying bracket where only the top eight advance. She was distraught and sat on the chair helpless wondering what she could have done better.
As she sat down, Ramita secured her position in the fifth. She remained calm and ended with a series of 105.7. She hugged coach Suma Shirur. There is a common thread that binds the two shooters. They train at the CSS Centre in Chennai. Ramita has been staying there for about a year now. She believes in process and would rely on it on Monday when she steps out for the final. She takes one shot at a time and tries not to think too much.
Monday will be just another day where all her qualifying scores come to nothing. And she knows she has to begin fresh from zero. But the Asian Games bronze medallist will once again rely on the process to medal in her maiden Olympics. After all, like she says, it’s a dream come true to be in the Olympics and she will live that dream one more day on Monday – the final day.
