New Delhi:
After winning India's first gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, Gagan Narang today said shooting has achieved so much success in the recent past that it has become the number one sport of the country.
Gagan, along with Beijing Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, on Tuesday clinched the 10m air rifle gold and hours after the triumph at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, the unassuming shooter asserted that "Shooting is the number 1 sport in the country at the moment".
"If you go by medals shooters win in international competitions and there performance, then shooting is the number one," Gagan said.
"Unlike other sports, we cannot express our feelings in front of the media or fans, because shooting is like that," Gagan said.
When on song the Hyderabadi makes shooting look like a child's play, but when asked if it comes easy to him, he instantly nooded in disagreement.
"It's never a cakewalk, it's all about hard work. It takes a lot of energy, and above all, we are all shooting at home, so the expectations are tremendous," Gagan said.
Asked if he is looking to emulate Samresh Jung's feat of winning five gold medal the last edition of the games in Melbourne in 2006, Gagan said, "I am not thinking about that right now and just taking things one event at a time, one day at a time."
Earlier, the world record holder, after coming off a none-too-impressive season, shot a spectacular sequence of 99, 100, 100, 99, 100, 100 for a total of 598, while Bindra shot 100, 98 ,99, 100, 99, 99 to total 595 to give India the first gold medal in the quadrennial sporting extravaganza.
Meanwhile, Bindra said majority of Indians would be glued to the television sets to watch the Games and not the Test match between India and Australia in Mohali, where the hosts prevailed in a nail-biter to eke out a narrow one-wicket win.
"I am very sure that are watching the Commonwealth games," Bindra said.
"I would want to live under the illusion that our gold medal win make headlines tomorrow," he said tongue-in-cheek, referring to cricket match.
"It's always a great feeling to win gold. This one is special as this is first big medal at home," said Bindra, who has not won a single major event since bagging gold in 10m air rifle event in Beijing two years ago.
"There are huge expectations and a lot of pressure was there on us, it was not easy for me, for sure."
Asked if the 2012 London Olympics is on his mind, Bindra replied in negative.
"I am not looking at the London Games right now. I am taking one event at a time, London is still two years to go," he said.
National coach Sunny Thomas credited Bindra and Gagan for the rise in popularity of shooting in India.
"Thanks to these two guys," Thomas said pointing to the two shooters, before adding, "the profile of shooting has gone up. The media has started following shooting because of Abhinav and Gagan."
Fairly satisfied with the results on the first day of the shooting event, Thomas said, "We have done a good job. But more than medals, we are concerned about performance. If we perform well, medals will follw."
On India's talent pool, Thomas said, "I am glad that we have the youngest team in the world. In shooting 40-45 is not very old and we have got a very young team."
Asked if he was disappointed after Omkar Singh and Deepak Sharma failed to win the gold medal," the coach said, "We have to take that, they are not machines."
Anisa Sayeed, who bagged the top prize in pairs 25m pistol for women with Rahi Sarnobat, said that they were confident of winning the gold. "After the half precision, we knew we would win," she said.
Gagan, along with Beijing Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, on Tuesday clinched the 10m air rifle gold and hours after the triumph at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, the unassuming shooter asserted that "Shooting is the number 1 sport in the country at the moment".
"If you go by medals shooters win in international competitions and there performance, then shooting is the number one," Gagan said.
"Unlike other sports, we cannot express our feelings in front of the media or fans, because shooting is like that," Gagan said.
When on song the Hyderabadi makes shooting look like a child's play, but when asked if it comes easy to him, he instantly nooded in disagreement.
"It's never a cakewalk, it's all about hard work. It takes a lot of energy, and above all, we are all shooting at home, so the expectations are tremendous," Gagan said.
Asked if he is looking to emulate Samresh Jung's feat of winning five gold medal the last edition of the games in Melbourne in 2006, Gagan said, "I am not thinking about that right now and just taking things one event at a time, one day at a time."
Earlier, the world record holder, after coming off a none-too-impressive season, shot a spectacular sequence of 99, 100, 100, 99, 100, 100 for a total of 598, while Bindra shot 100, 98 ,99, 100, 99, 99 to total 595 to give India the first gold medal in the quadrennial sporting extravaganza.
Meanwhile, Bindra said majority of Indians would be glued to the television sets to watch the Games and not the Test match between India and Australia in Mohali, where the hosts prevailed in a nail-biter to eke out a narrow one-wicket win.
"I am very sure that are watching the Commonwealth games," Bindra said.
"I would want to live under the illusion that our gold medal win make headlines tomorrow," he said tongue-in-cheek, referring to cricket match.
"It's always a great feeling to win gold. This one is special as this is first big medal at home," said Bindra, who has not won a single major event since bagging gold in 10m air rifle event in Beijing two years ago.
"There are huge expectations and a lot of pressure was there on us, it was not easy for me, for sure."
Asked if the 2012 London Olympics is on his mind, Bindra replied in negative.
"I am not looking at the London Games right now. I am taking one event at a time, London is still two years to go," he said.
National coach Sunny Thomas credited Bindra and Gagan for the rise in popularity of shooting in India.
"Thanks to these two guys," Thomas said pointing to the two shooters, before adding, "the profile of shooting has gone up. The media has started following shooting because of Abhinav and Gagan."
Fairly satisfied with the results on the first day of the shooting event, Thomas said, "We have done a good job. But more than medals, we are concerned about performance. If we perform well, medals will follw."
On India's talent pool, Thomas said, "I am glad that we have the youngest team in the world. In shooting 40-45 is not very old and we have got a very young team."
Asked if he was disappointed after Omkar Singh and Deepak Sharma failed to win the gold medal," the coach said, "We have to take that, they are not machines."
Anisa Sayeed, who bagged the top prize in pairs 25m pistol for women with Rahi Sarnobat, said that they were confident of winning the gold. "After the half precision, we knew we would win," she said.
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