New Delhi, Aug 31 (IANS) Athens Olympics silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Arjuna Award winner rifleman Sanjeev Rajput were axed from the shooting squad for the Oct 3-14 Commonwealth Games.
Though the squad will be announced here Wednesday, national coach Sunny Thomas told IANS that Rathore, who has been struggling for form since winning silver in the double trap event in Athens, missed the last day of the trials at the Karni Singh Shooting range here Tuesday and stands disqualified.
Thomas also said that Rajput, who was conferred with the Arjuna Award Sunday, lost his place to Beijing Olympics gold medallist Abhinav Bindra because only two shooters can participate in any event in the Commonwealth Games.
Rajput had won the silver in the 10 metre air rifle event in the Sydney World Cup earlier this year. The other shooter in the rifle event will be Gagan Narang, who won the bronze in the 10 metre air rifle event at the recently concluded World Championships.
‘Rathore missed today’s trials and we were forced to drop him. He turned up for trials Monday, but he skipped the trials today. As a result, he stands disqualified and will not be part of the Commonwealth Games squad,’ said Thomas.
Rathore was not available for comments but on social networking site he Tweeted: ‘I am not taking part in trials, however my full support to team India.’
Thomas said it would have been a tough for Rathore to make the cut because he had lost form of late.
‘Despite his indifferent form, Rathore was kept in the core group. But he had faired poorly in the international events in the last few years,’ said Thomas.
In the absence of Rathore, World No.5 Ronjan Sodhi will be India’s best bet in the double trap event at the Commonwealth Games. The other shooter in the double trap event could be Vikram Bhatnagar.
At the trials, Rathore’s average score was 130 while Bhatnagar shot 136 and Sodhi had 140.
‘Sodhi will be our brightest hope to win a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games. He has done well in international events and is also performing well at the trials,’ said Thomas.
On Rajput, Thomas said that the Navy man was unlucky.
‘At the trials, Sanjeev was second and Bindra was third. But due to his gold medal in Beijing, Bindra gets three extra points and in that case he becomes second. So I must say that Sanjeev was really unlucky, because unlike other events in Commonwealth Games we can field only two shooters,’ said Thomas.
