Shooting World Cup | CWG snub motivates Shahzar Rizvi to win gold
Shahzar Rizvi took his Commonwealth Games snub as a motivation to win a gold medal after making a debut at the ISSF Shooting World Cup in Mexico on Saturday. Rizvi also expressed his desire of becoming the world’s best shooter as he aims at winning golds at Munich, USA and South Korea World Cups.
India’s 27-member shooting squad for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games did not have the name of Shahzar Rizvi. Taking this snub personally, Rizvi set a world record in the finals of the shooting World Cup on Saturday that won him a gold medal in his debut appearance.
"I had a point to prove. I wanted to show people I was the best," said the 23-year-old after winning the gold medal reported ESPN.
After getting snubbed in January, Rizvi showed his disapproval for his snub.
"I couldn't understand why I was dropped. I thought I was shooting really well," said Rizvi.
Rizvi had been in hot form since last year. The 23-year-old won gold at the Commonwealth Shooting championships at Brisbane's Belmont Shooting Complex in November last year. This would be the same venue that hosts the Commonwealth Games of 2018. In January too, he won gold in the National championships, and still being overlooked by the selectors has not only angered Rizvi but seemingly his coach Ronak Pandit, too.
His coach even wrote a letter to the federation asking them to reconsider their decision and add Rizvi to their Commonwealth Games squad.
"It was a jolt. Based on his recent results, I was sure he was going to be picked. The Federation had their limitations. They have to send a reduced team size and the fact that both Jitu and Om Prakash participate in two events (10m pistol and 50m pistol) went in their favour," said surprised Pandit.
"He was clearly very disturbed about not being picked. That is a dangerous situation for a shooter to be in. It could be a very damaging thought if you think people hate you and want to bring you down. It was a challenge to keep his spirits high," he added.
Rizvi, who started his training under coach Pandit in March last year, had expressed his ambitions to play in the Olympics to him.
"He told me that his goal was the Olympics. And if that was the target, the Commonwealth Games need not be a priority. I told him that while he might not be okay with the decision, he had to use it to steel himself for the future, I explained that shooting is a measurable sport. His scores would have to speak for themselves, " said a consoling coach.
Rizvi had decided to take part in the World cup on the 11th hour and was handed the Mexican visa at the very last moment. He reached the host city a day prior to his competition and even texted his coach a WhatsApp message that read, "Sir, I'm going to win the gold."
After his bold prediction became a reality, his coach boasted about his ward’s achievement.
"Shahzar is a no-nonsense shooter. He doesn't complain about what he doesn't have. He doesn't bother if he is missing a skill or a resource. He makes do with what he has," said Pandit.
It also helped, says Pandit, that the field in Mexico was a depleted one. "When I saw the competition he had, I was confident that he would at least reach the final," added Rizvi’s coach.
Rizvi, who qualified for the finals with a seventh-place finish in the qualifying round, erased his memories of a poor start by setting a world record by acquiring gold in the World Cup.
"We had two weeks before the World Cup and coach had made me practice shooting in finals. I was shooting 245 regularly. I only finished with 242.3 because I shot an 8.9 and an 8.5 in the second round of shots. Because I arrived late to the venue, I wasn't able to adapt to the conditions which were a little hot. I overheated and made some simple mistakes. These are areas I have to work on," said the new world champion.
"I'm not satisfied just yet. I have three other World Cups (Munich, Fort Benning, USA, and Changwon, South Korea) that I will be taking part in this year and I want to win gold in all of them. I might not get a chance to win gold at the Commonwealth Games but become the number one shooter in the world is bigger than that," concluded the 32-year-old coach.
