“Given the way shooters from other countries have improved, I would suggest our shooters aim for quality at the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. Medals will always come if we maintain quality, and though we have in the past dominated in the CWG, the situation has changed. Shooters from countries such as Singapore, Australia and England have done very well because the standard has improved a lot. Our shooters have to perform very well, especially in air gun events, which have been our strong disciplines,” she wrote.

Pooja Ghatkar and Anjum Moudgil had won gold and silver medals respectively in the air rifle event during the previous CWG held in Belmont, and Bhagwat used them as examples for the current shooters to raise their standards. The veteran shooter also stated that the players are now given state-of-the-art facilities especially with Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore as the sports minister and one would nothing but the best from them.

The Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF), National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), as well a Union sports minister, had all been sweating hard to include shooting as a sport in the Commonwealth Games. But, with CWG federation CEO Grevemberg against it, it is a distant possibility.