After a rousing performance by the Indian shooting contingent at the Paris Olympics, which brought laurels to the nation in the form of three bronze medals, there is an expectation that the medal haul will change shape at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Shooting enthusiasts and Indian sports fans, in general, have been predicting a much stronger performance from the shooters, but it instils more hope when the same words are echoed by someone who has shaped the latest batch of Indian shooting prodigies, like Swapnil Kusale, Anjum Moudgil, Sift Kaur Samra, someone who is considered the Dronacharya of Indian shooting.
Deepali Deshpande, a former shooter and Olympic athlete, is convinced that what happened in Paris was the trailer for a blockbuster that will take center stage at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Deshpande has been a mentor to the current generation of Indian shooters and has been a part of their development since they first entered the shooting range a decade ago.
After making India proud at global events like the Asian Shooting Championships and Asian Games, among others, Deshpande decided to don the mentor hat and work towards producing champions.
“Swapnil Kusale, Arjun Babuta, Anjum Moudgil, Sift Kaur Samra, Akhil Sheoran and Arjun Sarangi have been training with me for the last few years,” recalls Deshpande in an exclusive interview with India TV.
“I started my coaching career in 2010 at the club level. I came as the head coach of the youth team when the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) launched the youth coaching programme. I met Anjum, Swapnil and others during that programme.
“I could see the talent in these shooters and I realized I just needed to channel it. At first, I worked on their stance and other technical aspects,” he said.
Deshpande coached the Indian shooting contingent in the run-up to the Tokyo Olympics and was “gutted” by the overall performance. Though she did not compete, she felt responsible for the Indian shooters’ lacklustre performance in Tokyo.
“I was totally shattered after we returned from Tokyo. I was part of the contingent and had to take the blame. When the contingent met Prime Minister Modi after returning from Paris, I deliberately distanced myself from the contingent and went to another table as I did not want to face the Prime Minister. I felt ashamed of our performance.
“I wanted to meet him after the Paris Olympics but couldn’t as he was not part of the shooting contingent. However, I wrote him a letter and sent it to him through Swapnil, who read it out to him.
“In response, I received a letter from the Prime Minister’s Office and I felt very good. It was a personalized letter and I felt honored,” she added.
Deshpande, who worked tirelessly with Indian shooters in the run-up to the Paris Olympics, revealed that the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics gave her and her protégés a year less than what athletes usually get in an Olympic cycle. However, that did not stop them from pushing themselves on the shooting range and the results were there for all to see in Paris.
“We had 365 fewer days to prepare for the Paris Olympics after the Summer Games in Tokyo were postponed. But we were still confident of getting a medal. I think we can expect a better performance and a more important medal at the Los Angeles Olympics,” she said.
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