World Championships medallist Anish chases excellence, not medals

After a tough 2023, shooter Anish Bhanwala rebounded by hiring a coach and training hard, winning multiple medals, including silver at the World Championships.

New Delhi: In 2023, Anish Bhanwala experienced his lowest phase when he fared poorly at the shooting World Championships and Asian Games. As someone who has always been in top form in domestic competitions and trials, consistently scoring at an aggregate of 585, it was a jolt to see his scores drop down to 575 and 560 respectively in the qualification of these two major events.

To get back on track required some drastic action and Anish was prepared to do whatever it took to change his fortunes. It started off with onboarding former shooter Harpreet Singh as his full-time coach. That led to better planning, focus on recovery and a stronger mindset -- all of which has done wonders for him this year.

The 23-year-old has just completed his most successful international season, since emerging as a precocious 15-year-old talent in 2017 with a junior world championships silver medal in Suhl. He won a silver medal at the World Championships in Cairo last month, and silver at the ISSF World Cup Final this month but the season’s first big prize was a silver at the Asian Championships in August.

“The Asian Championships medal gave me confidence. I was very strong in the final there, with 35 hits. Then I trained without a break for one-and-a-half months with my coach Harpreet sir. It was very serious training and it ensured I went to the Worlds with my best preparation. I was shooting high scores in training. So, this time I realistically felt I had a chance,” Anish told HT.

“I think I do bounce back well. I have consistently made it to the Indian team since 2017, never missing an international match. I was doing well in domestic trials in 2023 also, but in back-to-back competitions in world championships and Asian Games, I didn’t perform well. I started training from my lowest phase But I did qualify for the Paris Olympics where I shot well and was close to qualifying for the final,” said Anish who finished 13th in Paris.

The boost from Paris was a turnaround for Anish as he set his goals at the start of this year. It was the two major championships -- Worlds and Asian meet.

“I planned these two as my main competitions and that I will treat the World Cups as a testing ground. So, I did not put too much load on myself and kept on taking breaks. Things started going good in domestic competitions Trials 3 and 4. I was pushing myself a bit and got into a good maintenance phase. That’s how I have managed this season and got the results.”

“In the final in Cairo, I told myself that I would approach differently. I would just want to qualify for the ISSF World Cup Final and that eased my mind.”

In the season-ending finale in Doha, Anish returned with another podium (silver) completing a full set of medals this year.

In many ways Anish has broken the glass ceiling in his discipline, becoming the first ever Indian rapid fire pistol shooter to win a world championships medal. The event has fetched India an Olympic medal when Army marksman Vijay Kumar won silver in London 2012. In the last few seasons, Anish, Vijayveer Sindhu and Adarsh Singh have shot remarkably well and they now seemingly have the experience to win big at major events.

Anish and Vijayveer work together during competitions and that has helped both improve.

“Initially there was a lot of competitiveness between us, which is natural because we are vying for national team berths. But over a period of time we realised we are not fighting against each other. We are comfortably making it to the Indian team and if we have to become the world’s best, we have to help each other.”

“So the equation changed. When we go and compete in open tournaments overseas, I sit behind his matches, observe and give him feedback and he does the same. Post competition, we discuss our matches. As participating athletes we are able to describe the situation better and point on things that go wrong. Gradually, we have developed trust and we work off the shooting range as well. We are now using each other’s experience and growing.”

While winning medals is a dream-come-true for Anish, the youngster believes is chasing excellence. What keeps him going is constant improvement and to become a pistol shooter who is good to watch in action. He follows legends like Ralf Schumann -- the three time Olympic gold medallist or -- Christian Reitz, another legend of the sport.

“They are such smooth shooters. It’s almost flawless shooting. You can’t make a difference between their two series of shots. It looks alike, as if they are shooting in repetition. The stability and coordination is so good. The feeling is so good. They have been consistent for so long. I have a lot of improvement to make, but I want to be a shooter whom people can watch and say, ‘mazaa aa gaya, kya chalata hai (what a shooter. He is so good to watch.’ If I can do that, medals will follow.”