Inside the shooting range, his confidence rivals a seasoned campaigner but the moment Anish Bhanwala steps out of it, he becomes the average 15-year-old worried about his maths exam. It's just that he now happens to be India's youngest Commonwealth Games gold-medallist.
On Monday, it was the men's 3P team who first got India on board, going down 12-16 to Italy.
Swift intervention by Ministry of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj ensured shooting ace Abhinav Bindra was accompanied by his coach, whose passport got stolen in Germany while the duo were travelling to Rio de Janeiro for the ISSF World Cup, a test event for the upcoming Olympics.
Ace marksman Jitu Rai flattered to deceive before crashing out of the Rio Olympics, failing to make it to the final of men's 50-metre pistol, his pet event, on Wednesday. The 28-year-old Asian Games gold medallist finished 12th in the six-series qualifying round after being placed fourth at the end of the fifth and penultimate series at the Olympic Shooting Centre.
Manu Bhaker claimed the gold medal in the women's 10am air pistol, while birthday boy Deepak Kumar gifted himself a bronze medal in men's 10m air rifle at the 14th Asian Championship.
The Indian shooters will begin training at the venue from July 19, having got their rooms allotted at the games village after arriving in Tokyo in the wee hours of Saturday.
The participation of Indian athletes in Friday's Tokyo Olympic Games opening ceremony will be kept to a 'bare minimum' in view of the COVID-19 threat, while only six officials from the contingent will be allowed to take part in the event.
The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) and its Athletes Committee headed by Abhinav Bindra, on Tuesday received brickbats from three-time Olympic medallist Rajmond Debevec, who said gender equality in the 2020 Olympic Games could have been achieved without scrapping the existing three events.
The IOC said the refusal of visas for competitors went against the principles of the Olympic charter relating to discrimination and political interference from the host country.
Pistol ace Manu Bhaker has got a new electronic target installed at the makeshift shooting range at her home in Haryana in place of an archaic manual machine that was breaking down frequently and hampering her Olympics preparation. The old machine was causing her "immense irritation".
26-year-old Anjum Moudgil has also been offering counselling sessions to her friends, some of whom are shooters, at a personal level.
'I think Croatia must be better than India currently (in terms of COVID-19 situation) and being with the team also gives you confidence. I don't see any problem from being away from home for three months.'
The 23-year-old world number 144 (before the final) from Faridabad, however, secured the Paris Olympics quota for the country after topping the second ranking round match with a brilliant 24 out of 25 hits.
Young Mehuli Ghosh settled for the silver medal after forcing a shoot-off in the women's 10m air rifle event with a perfect final shot of 10.9 while Apurvi Chandela secured bronze in the Commonwealth Games, in Gold Coast, on Monday.
One of India's strongest Olympic medal hopes, ace shooter Manu Bhaker feels preparations 'cannot get better' than the ongoing training-cum-competition tour of Croatia as she works on her consistency ahead of the Tokyo Games.
Tejaswini shot 102.1, 102.4, 103.3, 102.8, 103.7, 104.6 for a cumulative score of 618.9 over six series to claim her sixth CWG medal.
In a bizarre incident, a national-level shooter recently lost his left thumb when the 10m air pistol cylinder he was filling exploded, at the Karni Singh Range.
the past few days have been hectic for shooter Shreyasi Singh and cricketer Manoj Tiwary, who have been juggling political duties with focused preparation for their respective competitive outings as well.
Sarabjot's effort meant that India swept both the men's and women's 10m air pistol crowns
In other India-related news, Manish Kaurav (KL3 men 200m) and Manjeet Singh (VL2 men 200m) made it to the finals of their respective events for the first time in the history of the tournament.
Having failed at the World Cup in Guangzhou, he hopes to clinch a place at the event in Brazil later this month.
Optimistically preparing to shoot at the Games, air pistol exponent Verma, 29, is a late bloomer.
Former Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs has expressed his interest in the vacant managerial positions at Premier League sides Leicester City and Everton.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
The focus is firmly trained on teen sensation Manu Bhaker as the fancied Indian shooting team eyes a head start at the 21st Commonwealth Games
Tokyo Olympics medal prospect Manu Bhaker has demanded action against two Air India employees for allegedly 'harassing' and 'insulting' her while the ace shooter tried to board a flight to Bhopal from Delhi.
Here are some of the other events -- in pictures -- that made news last week.
'Today we will write to the government of India to find a solution to the matter. Wrestling and wrestlers can't suffer. We are drafting a letter to urge the government to ensure that sport does not suffer'
Eating 'tasteless' supplements, undergoing breathing exercises and yoga is not something a teenager would love to do daily but that is the routine of shooter Ramita Jindal who has emerged as a star for India in the Asian Games.
The fallout of the Pulwama terror attack, which killed over 40 CRPF personnel, on the sporting ties between India and Pakistan was felt the strongest on Friday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
As the curtain comes down on 2014, here's a look at the five best performances over the last 12 months. And, guess what? Two Indian sportsmen figure in the list!
Gagan Narang, Jitu Rai and young Mehuli Ghosh failed to make the Indian shooting squad for the upcoming Asian Games, even as a few unheralded faces were picked for the quadrennial extravaganza, starting in Indonesia, from August 18.
The NRAI will send a protest letter to various sports bodies after Indian shooters, competing in the ISSF Shooting World Cup in London, were forced to spend a night at the hotel lobby due to the organising committee's irresponsible behaviour.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
Verma wins compound individual gold, opens tally for India.
A star-studded Indian shooting contingent will begin their Rio Olympics campaign on Saturday with in-form Jitu Rai hoping to launch the country's medal haul in an event which will also see his more illustrious senior colleague Abhinav Bindra aiming to end his glorious career on a high.
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Narinder Batra made the announcement during the send-off ceremony in New Delhi on Monday.
Heena Sidhu clinched the 10m air pistol gold medal to give India a perfect start at the Commonwealth Shooting Championships in Brisbane on Tuesday.
The war of words between the duo started after the 16-year-old athlete took to Twitter questioning Vij about the 2 crore cash reward, the latter had promised after she won a gold medal at the 2018 Youth Olympics at Argentina.
