If on Thursday, India’s Olympic shooting medallist Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore had accepted that he was not in the best of forms, Friday’s double trap event proved that the armyman had judged right. Rathore made it to the final round of the double trap event at the Masters 2008 with a single-point lead and then withdrew. According to the officials, Rathore’s withdrawal was “due to ill health.”

Minutes after Rathore had finished shooting the qualifying round, he met with some shooters and left the range abruptly. “He is not well and would not return for the final event and has withdrawn,” informed the organising committee.

World no.11 and defending champion Ronjon Sodhi won the first prize with a tally of 134 points. Vikram Chopra, at 131, followed Sodhi with Mohammed Asab taking third place.

Sodhi was ecstatic about defending his title but the out-of-form shooter would have liked to score more points for the title. “The lack of a camp prior to the event is showing on the performance here. The limited ammunition is another worry for us,” said Sodhi, who claimed to have borrowed 1000 bullets from a friend for the event.

Sodhi had another reason to rejoice with news coming in that the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) and the sports ministry had accepted his application for a training stint with Australian coach Russel Marc. “I have been informed that I would be going for a 15-day period. This would really help me rectify some faults in my technique,” he told The Indian Express.

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