World's top shooters revere Bindra for his accomplishments

Abhinav Bindra may have dropped the gun for good but the Olympic champion remains the country's most decorated marksman in the international shooting community.

From the legendary Rajmond Debevec of Slovenia to Hungarian veteran Peter Sidi, the Beijing Games gold medalist is held in the highest regard.

Bindra created history when he clinched the gold 10m air rifle yellow metal in the 2008 Games and even as eight years have passed since that August evening, he remains the country's only individual gold medalist in Olympic history.

Discussions turned to Bindra when China's rifle coach Li Jie, an Olympic and world championship silver medalist, was asked about the kind of sacrifices athletes from his country make to consistently achieve glory at the biggest stage.
 

"In their quest for glory, the kind of sacrifices they have made and continue to make will be hard to measure. For instance, in India, Bindra has made a lot of sacrifices to achieve success at the highest level. If I remember Bindra was ranked low in Athens and then won the gold medal in Beijing. He has made great sacrifices," Li told PTI on the sidelines of the ongoing ISSF World Cup in the capital.

Li was the silver medal winner in the same 10m air rifle event at the 2004 Athens Olympics, where Bindra could not realize his dream. That was to come four years later in Li's own country, and the Chinese's voice seemed to be filled with admiration for Bindra as he recalled the moment while taking out time from a team training session.

Li burst on the scene at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, where he won two gold medals, before making it big with another white metal at the Athens Olympics.

Three-time Olympic medallist Debevec said, "I had the opportunity to shoot together with him in competitions, he was really a champion, but unfortunately, he quit shooting after the Rio Games."

Winner of five World Championship medalist and innumerable podium finishes in World Cups, Debevec added, "He has a fantastic shooting career with many accomplishments."

Sidi, who has been a world champion in the 50m rifle 3 positions event, also spoke highly of Bindra and looked a bit surprised when he was informed that the Indian had retired from active shooting after the heartbreak at Rio Games last summer.

One of India's biggest medal prospects heading into the Games, the 33-year-old Bindra missed out on one by a whisker - 0.5 points to be precise - after finishing fourth.

Sidi, who is in the capital for the World Cup, mentioned Bindra's name while talking about a shooter's longevity in competitive shooting.

At 37, Sidi is going strong and said he won't quit the sport as long as he is winning medals.

"In shooting there are people who have won Olympic medals at the age of 50. Look at Rajmond Debevec (of Slovenia)," Sidi said.

"Bindra was a great shooter and could have continued shooting," Sidi, who finished a place behind Bindra in the final standings at Rio de Janeiro, said.