Vijay, India's silver lining

Determined Army subedar from Mhow wins silver medal in 25M rapidfire pistol in the Olympics

Three words describe Vijay Kumar in a shooting range – silent, strong, effective. 

Till the other day, he was just the Army man from Mhow. On Friday, he became the second Indian to win an individual Olympic silver medal with a super cool performance under the most trying of circumstances.

The new format in rapidfire pistol doesn’t allow any room for error. And Vijay didn’t make many errors on Friday in a high-pressure final at the Royal Artillery Barracks. He had made the final in fourth position after steady performance over the last two days – shooting 293 on day one and 292 earlier on Friday for a total of 584.

Ahead of him were Alexei Klimov of Russia who shot a world record of 592, Ding Feng of China (588) and Leuris Pupo of Cuba (586) while Zhang Jian of China (585) and Christian Riez of Germany (583) completed the line up. With the scores being discarded after the qualification, all were at the same level in the final, where Vijay shot 30 to come behind Pupo, who struck brilliant form after an unsteady beginning. Starting with a three, he shot three straight 5’s (maximum) and then finished with four consecutive fours for a total of 34 for his maiden Olympic gold.

“I have been trying for an Olympic gold since Sydney 2000. I am overwhelmed,” said Pupo. Vijay made a brilliant beginning with a five and then shot two fours before slumping to three in the fourth series. But he bounced back with three straight fours to remain the only rival for Pupo, who was going great guns. He was on 28 and Pupo on 30 when the last series began and for the gold to fall in his bag, the Cuban had to misfire. As it turned out, he shot a four to ensure himself the gold medal and in the inconsequential final series, Vijay shot two to settle at 30.

Reitz, who had come through after a shoot-off, departed early in the final while China’s Zhang Jian soon followed suit. It was Klimov’s turn next as a fired a poor two in the fourth series. Vijay was assured of a bronze by then but with another four, he moved a notch higher, even as China’s Ding exited, managing only a three. The Cuban, seemed to be in a zone with his series of fives and he didn’t slip even in the final shot. But for the Indian fans and Vijay, even silver seemed good as the gold.

Result: Leuris Pupo (Cuba) 586, 34, 1; Vijay Kumar (India) 585, 30, 2; Ding Feng (China) 588, 27, 3.