What's eating Asif?

Asif Hossain Khan

Commonwealth gold medallist shooter Asif Hossain Khan is soul-searching after a poor performance in the South Asian Games' preparation that eventually forced him out of the Asian Air Gun Championship squad.
The National Shooting Federation of Bangladesh on Monday approved a 10-member Bangladesh squad for the Asian meet on the basis of performance and Asif found no place in the squad with his average points of 585, five short of the qualifying marks in the 10m Air Rifles.
"I myself can't not understand why I can't shoot well in the training though I have no problem with my new shooting kits and also getting support from all corners," Asif told The Daily Star yesterday after being dropped from the Qatar-bound squad.
Before picking the squad, the scores of three practice competitions were considered and BKSP students Mahmudul Hasan Sajib and Abdullah Hel Baki put Asif behind them by scoring more than the qualifying mark of 590.
The SA Games gold medallist, Asif admitted that pressure gets the better of him automatically whenever he tried to get a good start or finish with a flourish.
"Sometime I got off to a good start, but failed to continue it till the last shot and I don't know why this happened to me," said Asif.
The prolific shooter is actually not up to the mark since he was beaten brutally by the police in October 2006 though he was seen in his peak form during the fourth South Asian Shooting Championship in Pakistan in late November 2008.
Asif was also dropped from the Bangladesh contingent for the 2008 Olympic in Beijing for his poor performance and he celebrated his return shooting the best score of 694.3 in the 10m air rifles to bag gold in 4th SA Shooting Championship.
Afterwards, he was sent to the German city of Wesbaden to receive a month-long special training at the Olympic Training Centre in May last year and he was also kept out of the fifth South Asian Shooting Championship at home to give him time to adjust to his new shooting wear as well as arm.
“I have talked with Atique bhai, Rinki bhai and Shahana apa about my problem and they told me that I might have facing a 'self image' problem and being caught with fear,” said the young shooter.
"I have just started my coaching career and got a little time to work with Asif and I think he might have a lack of concentration and he should spend more time in the range," said Saiful Alam Chowdhury Rinki, who turned into a coach recently.
Bangladesh Olympic Association is expecting a couple of gold medals from the shooting event, basically men's and women's 10m air rifles and Asif is the last Bangladeshi shooter, who grabbed the 10m air rifles gold in Islamabad SA Games.
Nevertheless, India are the major contenders for the hosts, who saw themselves wobbling against Indian world-class shooters during the fifth SA Shooting Championship as PT Ragunath (696.7), Sanjib Rajput (695.5) and Emran Hossain Khan (693.9) finished first, second and third respectively in the 10m Air Rifles event. Bangladesh Abdullah Hel Baki finished fifth in the 10m Air Rifle scoring 677.3 points.
Asif, however, promised to come back again. "I think I will come back to form if I can practice a bit more and I am determined to do something in the days coming forward."
The selected shooters for the 3rd Asian Air Gun Shooting Championship are: Junior Group: Abdullah Hel Baki (in 10 Air Rifles); Youth Group: Sadia Sultana, Tripti Datta and Mahmudul Hasan Sajib (10m Air Rifles) and Antara Islam (Air Pistol); Senior Group: Sharmin Akter Ratna, Sharmin Akter (10m Air Rifles), Sinthia Naznin Tumpa, Armin Asha and Nadimul Islam (Air Pistol).