World record holder in double trap Ronjon Sodhi yesterday came out in strong defence of Athens Olympics silver medal-winning shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore
World record holder in double trap Ronjon Sodhi yesterday came out in strong defence of Athens Olympics silver medal-winning shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, who spoke out against the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) moments after shooting gold at the National Shooting Championships in New Delhi.
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Rathore clinched the yellow metal on Day One of the championships at the Karni Singh Shooting Range with a score of 138 in qualification and 42 in the final, followed by Delhi's Vikram Bhatnagar, who won silver (131 & 43) and UP's Mohd Asab, who bagged the bronze medal (138 & 39).
World Champion Sodhi said the army man's emotional outburst against the NRAI is justified. "Rathore was unhappy with NRAI's old selection policy that ignored worthy international scores. So, his disappointment is justified," World No 3 Sodhi told MiD DAY yesterday.
"Even I was not picked for two World Cups when the NRAI was functioning as per the old policy. Now however, their policies have changed and I'm sure even Rathore will agree that it is for the better," added the Guangzhou Asian Games gold medal-winning shooter.
Sodhi said he was not at all surprised by the Colonel's resurgence. "I've been training with Rathore across the last fortnight or so and he has been shooting very well. So, the gold has definitely not come as a surprise to me. Rathore is a world-class shooter and can never be written off," said Sodhi, who finished in fourth place yesterday with scores of 131 and 43.
In fact, Sodhi believes the Athens hero could repeat history at the 2012 London Olympics. "There is hardly any medal in shooting that Rathore has not won ufffd be it on the Asian or the world circuit. I'm sure this win will keep him in good stead for the London Games too. He has won it (Olympic medal) in the past and can do it again. In fact, it augurs well for India too, as it will better the bench strength of the double trap team. A quality shooter like Rathore will only push the rest of us to shoot better."
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