SAF Games: Indian shooters eye medals

Colombo: Fresh from their exploits in the Junior World competition, India's talented young shooters are confident of putting up another sterling performance as competition begins on Saturday at the South Asian Games, the nation's favourite medal hunting ground.

A total of 26 gold, silver and bronze medals each would be on offer in the shooting competition to be held at the newly developed international shooting range at the Sri Lanka Navy premises at Welisara.

Indian marksmen are expected to make a clean sweep of the medals given their dominance in the sport and the weak opposition.

In the 1999 edition of the sporting extravaganza, India picked up 15 out of the total 16 titles.

Continuing to shoot to glory, the country finished with a haul of 30 gold medals in the ninth SA Games at Islamabad, where 30 yellow metals were up for grabs.

Famed Indian shooter Jaspal Rana led the Indian charge at the shooting ranges bagging seven gold - three individual and four from team events.

At the Emerald Isles, the 25-member Indian squad is led by Navnath Fartade, who recently won the gold at junior men's rifle event in the World Championships at Zagreb, Croatia.

The 20-year-old Fartade sounded confident about his prospects in the Games but admitted he needed to be wary of shooters from Nepal and Pakistan.

"We have to be careful about our opponents, although I am upbeat about my chances here," Fartade said.

While the squad comprises mostly youngsters, there is also the veteran Ashok Pandit in the ranks. Pandit, a former Asian Games and Commonwealth Games medallist, got nominated as the flag bearer of the Indian contingent.

Fulchand Bangar, who was part of the Indian team that clinched the bronze at Zagreb, is another shooter who is expected to return a rich haul.

Meanwhile, Pakistan shooters were also gearing up to counter India's challenge.

"Our shooters have honed their shooting skills during one and a half month training tour of China under the supervision of Chinese coaches. They are in good shape and should come good here," National Rifle Association of Pakistan secretary Khalid Javed said.