Parents on the perimeter: Why young women shooters need their fathers and mothers at the pressure-soaked Olympic trials | Sport-others News
It’s almost 40 degrees but feels a lot higher. The sun is harsh; the breeze, hotter. Stand for a couple of minutes and you are reminded of that old animated ad where the sun sucks energy out of you with a straw. In this oven, Sumedha Bhaker is sitting on a roofless bench in the central lawns of Bhopal’s shooting range. She sits and endures, the light brown sunglasses her only protection. Fifteen or so minutes later, she gets up in a huff and walks towards the 10m qualification hall. She reaches for the door but steps back, leans on the railing and begins typing furiously on her phone. Overcome by anxiety of a nervous parent, Sumedha can’t muster the courage to go inside, where the mercury is rising too. India’s top five pistol shooters are having a proper go at each other. Their three-year-long Road to Paris has come down to a series of tense and intense selection trials. Only two of them will get on the plane to Paris. The difference between competing …