Shardul's silver is a real 'big one': Ronjan Sodhi

NEW DELHI: At 15 most kids spend their free time with friends, having fun. Many are also hooked to videogames. But Shardul Vihan spends a lot of time shooting clay birds at the shotgun range. And his hard work helped him reap rich dividends on Thursday. At the Men's Double Trap finals of the Asian Games in Palembang, only one point separated him and the gold medallist. Shardul shot 73 and Korea's Shin Hyunwoo 74. The staggering stat, though, was the fact that there is a 19-year age gap between the two.

ALSO READ: Shardul Vihan is 15 & already an Asiad medallist

Eight years ago, India had its best moment in Asiad double trap history. And the man who wore the Guangzhou 2010 gold, Ronjan Sodhi, was glued to his TV set during the finals on Thursday. And aware of every little detail of the shotgun domain, he summed up Vihan's silver in four words: "This is a big one."

BEYOND IMAGINATION

"I saw his final live. This guy was extremely composed and shot an amazing final. It was beyond my imagination that a 15-year-old could cope with pressure like he did," Ronjan said talking to Timesofindia.com.

"Just a point apart (from the gold medallist). This is a big one," Sodhi repeated.

I COULD SEE HIS LIPS MOVING

Sodhi also explained the routine Shardul followed before every shot - pulling a cartridge out of his pocket, holding it in front of him, focusing on it and then putting it back in. But what caught his attention was the 'self-talk'.

"That (holding out a cartridge) everybody does. It's a way to point the gun. But I could read his lips. It was self-talk. For a 15-year-old to do that is just amazing."

SHOTGUN TEENS PROVING ME WRONG

Sodhi had earlier mentioned how shotgun required more composure and thus maturity in this discipline comes with age, generally in the mid 20s. But he was happy to admit that teenagers like Shardul and Lakshay Sheoran have proved him wrong.

Lakshay won the trap silver earlier in the week.

"They have proved me wrong. In shotgun, it's your friend after 25. But Lakshay and Shardul going on to win at the Asian Games at such a young age is huge," he said.

Not just shotgun, Sodhi also praised young pistol shooters, led by Saurabh Chaudhary, who won the 10m Air Pistol gold.

"At the Commonwealth Games, it was Manu (Bhaker) and Anish (Bhanwala), who is yet to shoot at this Asian Games. Here we have Saurabh, Lakshay, Shardul. Saurabh going into his first senior competition and winning gold is brilliant," the two time World Cup gold medallist added.

THANK THE JUNIOR PROGRAMME
The veteran shooter added that a lot of credit needs to go to the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) and its president Raninder Singh.
"He (Raninder) started the junior programme. Many criticised it at that point, questioning why so much is being spent on juniors. I spoke to Raninder (after Shardul's medal) and congratulated him.
"The selection policy needs to be credited as well, otherwise only experienced shooters would have gone to the Asian Games. But they (selectors) chose those who shot the best in the trials. So a lot of credit should go to the selection committee and the federation," he signed off.

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