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Finally, Bindra set to shoot at home
It will be after a gap of almost 10 years that Olympic gold-medallist, Abhinav Bindra, will compete in a domestic competition. The champion rifle marksman is in Pune to participate in the Kumar Surendra Singh Memorial Championship starting Wednesday.
It will be after a gap of almost 10 years that Olympic gold-medallist, Abhinav Bindra, will compete in a domestic competition. The champion rifle marksman is in Pune to participate in the Kumar Surendra Singh Memorial Championship starting Wednesday.
Bindra's event — 10m air rifle -— is on Friday.
Participating in the championship is part of Bindra's training schedule for the London Olympics where he will defend his Beijing Olympics title. “I am competing in Pune because I am doing a few experiments,” said Bindra.
The last time the ace shooter competed in a domestic tournament was during the 2001 National Games in Mohali, following which he participated in the National Championship in 2002.
Bindra had shot at the Pune ranges last year as well, but that was during the two-day selection trials. He had also appeared in the selection trials for the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games held at the Karni Singh Ranges in 2005.
In March this year, he had participated in a state-level event — the Punjab State Games held in Mohali.
In June this year, Bindra bagged the London Olympic quota at the Munich World Cup.
New experiment
“Abhinav's Olympic preparation is going as per schedule and participation in the Pune event is very much a part of it. He is currently practising a biomechanics technique to control his nerves before important competitions. He is in Pune to do some experiments related to the technique,” said Bindra's mental trainer Dr Amit Bhattacharjee.
