Well Played

“Shooters misfire.” This was the headline in one of the major national newspapers of this country after some of our shooters did not make it to the finals of their respective events at the Rio Olympics.

Being a sports fan, I was following the qualification process live and was completely incensed at the senselessness of this headline. That the media has a lack of sensibility is being proved from time to time. There are a huge number of loose comments that flow after every performance in an Olympics or a World Cup which does not result in a medal. Coffee conversations flow from, how our sportsmen are underperforming, how a small country like say Vietnam can generate a  Gold medal, while India with it’s large population cannot do so etc. I am sure there will be jokes about how the Indians went to Rio for sightseeing etc. This piece is to ensure that we don’t lose our sensibilities by blindly following the media.

Take the case of the women’s 10 m Air rifle event. Apurvi Chandela and Ayonika Paul shot 411.6 and 403 to finish 34^th and 47^th in the qualifiers. The cut off for the finals came at 415.9. Let us understand the score in perspective. Each participant has to fire 40 shots in the qualifying round. The target is 10 mts away which is nearly 30 feet. I am sure half our cricketers will not be able to hit the stumps from 30 feet... regularly.

A bull’s eye is a score of 10. Chandela has an average score of 10.29 per shot and Paul has an average score of 10.075 per shot. This means that they are hitting bulls eye with almost every shot.  To do this for 40 shots in succession is completely inhuman. There is a small inner circle, absolutely at the centre, where you score more than 10 points. In the gold medal winning shot at Beijing, Abhinav Bindra hit a 10.8. A perfect score is 10.9.  So it is just a matter of how close to the centre your shot is which separates the best from the rest.

Yes I am disappointed that India did not get a medal. But for a moment, let me put myself in the shoes of Apurvi and Ayonika. The collective disappointment of a billion Indians will not match the individual disappointment that each of the girls have. None of them went to Rio, just to participate and make up the numbers. Each one of them is here to win. A collective effort of 4 years is judged in a matter of 45 minutes of performance and 2 seconds of headlines.

This brings me to another incident, which cringed me. India vs. Columbia, Archery team quarterfinals, Rio 2016. The match is tied and we are in the last set. The Columbian archer misfires and scores a 3, where most arrows score 8,9 or 10. This one bad arrow cost Columbia the match. I am sure that the Columbian archer did not put in practice for four years to shoot a 3.. something snapped at the last second. The Columbian archer was un-consolable. I don’t know how the Columbian media works, but if it was an Indian, the Indian media would have barbequed her. And so would have the 1 billion population.

Every negative comment that you make about the performance or lack of the same at the Olympics of our sportspersons is akin to shooting a bullet through their heart. My sincere request to you all... be cognizant of the sensibilities of the athletes... and just say “Well Played” irrespective of the result.

Happy Olympic viewing.