Rathore out of CWG contention after Patiala selection trials

Following a string of below-par performances from him and a new selection policy, former Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has crashed out of contention for upcoming tournaments this year, including the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

Rathore was in Patiala to take part in the selections trials for the national team for this year, which was mandatory for all shooters who are not part of the current squad. Rathore, who has been critical of the range here in the past, shot 50 on 50 in the first round on Thursday. He finished with a score of 140 on 150, which was the best score of the day, but still not enough for him to make it. As per the new selection policy, the five-member national squad will be picked based on performances in the national trials and two international events.

“I am out of contention for the Asian championships and the other World Cups where there are quota places to be won because of the flawed NRAI selection policy,” Rathore told The Indian Express on Thursday. “This new policy came into effect on March 13 and today, at the first trials after that, I shot a 140, the maximum by a shooter. By that logic, I should have been in, but I am out because of what I shot at the January trials. Because of that score I was kept out of the team for the Commonwealth Championships in Delhi and now that performance has been added to today’s to get a cumulative score for selection.

“As per this selection policy, I needed to shoot 160 out of the 150 targets today to qualify. I don’t know how that is possible.”

Rathore was also critical of these trials being applicable for the Commonwealth Games team as well. “This also means that I am out of the Commonwealth Games. How can someone’s form in January be good enough for a tournament to be held in October?” Rathore said.

The only way Rathore can still make the squad is if the shooters who are already in the team perform badly in the Asian Clay Shooting Championship that begins on March 27. The current double trap team include Himanshu, Mohammed Asab, Ronjon Sodhi, Ajay Mittal and Vikram Bhatnagar, who have been consistently shooting better scores than Rathore in the recent past.

“You can’t have a selection policy that suits a particular shooter, there must be a level playing field, and the current policy does that,” a shooter participating in the trial today told The Indian Express.