Saurabh Chaudhary had topped the qualifiers in the 10m air pistol event but in the medal round, his form suddenly dipped and he ended up finishing seventh.
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Big game pressure is something that makes even legendary players go off their game. The Olympic medal events are the ultimate symbol of big-game pressure. In order to combat this situation, many players take different routes. There is one popular saying to combat this particular situation. England Lions Rugby coach Ian McGeechan gave a famous quote to combat big pressure situations which stated “Brains in the Fridge, bodies in the oven.”
The quote meant a simple thing. Keep a calm mind but ensure the body senses are active enough to fuel the skill. On paper, it is great to read. Execution takes years of perfection. Saurabh Chaudhary would have definitely wanted it to be in the ‘Brains in the Fridge, bodies in the oven’ balance. For a brief moment, he had given 130 billion Indians plenty to dream. His qualifying round for the medals was simply sensational. But, when the pressure went up a notch, he crumbled. It happened to Chaudhary in Tokyo 2020. For India, it has been happening ever since 1960 following Milkha Singh’s epic fourth place in Rome.
The day had begun very badly for India in Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Apurvi Chandela and Elavenil Valarivan both crashed out of the medal contention in the 10m air rifle event. But, the medal hopes for India were high when they came to the 10m air pistol event. Saurabh Chaudhary had won youth Olympic golds, World Championship golds as well as the brilliance of an Asiad gold in Jakarta in 2018. Abhishek Verma was also one of the standouts heading into Tokyo 2020.
Shooting, in particular, 10m air pistol, is a very delicate sport subject to concentration, skill, and acute time management. The qualifying rounds were simply stunning. Chaudhary was shooting as if he was in a different league together. 23 straight 10s from the third to the fourth set of shots summed up the brilliance of Chaudhary. At the age of 19, Chaudhary was already sending out a strong message to the world. The 23 straight 10 targets put Chaudhary on top of the qualifying with 586 points out of 600. He was just eight away from shattering the Olympic qualifying record.
At the other end, Abhishek Verma was also in contention heading into the final set of shots. Imagine two shooters in the medal round for India. At least one medal was guaranteed. But, Abhishek Verma shot a couple of nines and eights and slipped out of the top eight. The disappointment of Verma’s elimination was tempered by the brilliance of Saurabh Chaudhary.
Chaudhary was all set to do an Abhinav Bindra in 2008. But, the added pressure of being so close played on Chaudhary’s mind. He started with a 10.1 but after the first five shots, he slipped to seventh with a score of 47.7. In the deciding shot, he was 0.3 points behind sixth position. If he had hit a 10, he would have made it. But, Chaudhary shot 9.6. Zhang Bowen, his Chinese competitor, hit 10.2. The game was over in a couple of shots. The total of 137.7 saw Chaudhary finishing seventh out of eight.
The big game pressure had got to Chaudhary. This was a repeat of what Jitu Rai underwent in Rio 2016 when the wind factor saw him delay his shots and lose time. In this, the inexperience of Chaudhary in the Olympics came back to bite him hard.
Big game pressure spares no one. Even Abhinav Bindra, one of the greatest athletes from India, encountered this in Rio 2016. Battling vision and shoulder problems, Bindra still shot as a man possessed. In his case, the other competitor shot better.
But, all is not lost for Chaudhary. He might still win a medal in the mixed events. But, he can only get better for Paris 2024. The road is long for Chaudhary. He can only get better from this point in time.
