Beijing: 

Surprised: India's Hungarian coach Laszlo Szucsak. Pic/Ashwin Ferro

India's so-called star-studded nine-member shooting squad only managed one medal at the Beijing Olympics having finished all their engagements here on Sunday. While many would say that a gold is not a bad achievement after all, the fact that none of the other eight even managed to qualify for the finals is what hurts. 

However, India's Hungarian coach Laszlo Szucsak believes that given the step-motherly treatment, the sport receives back home, the gold is something way beyond expectations.

Scuzsak, who's been coaching the Indians for nearly half a decade spoke to MiD DAY at the Beijing shooting range yesterday and sounded content but at the same time, relatively upset. Excerpts:

On his expectations...
To be honest, given the way the sport is treated in India, I expected no medals here. I thought even one medal... any medal for that matter, would have been a great achievement. Abhinav Bindra's gold is a big  bonus. 

On the performance...
It's a fantastic performance given the minimum investment the sport gets in India. There are many countries participating in the Olympics, who invest a lot more than India but have gone home without a medal. India was fortunate. As for the rest of the shooters, I think it was only a case of having one or two very bad rounds on the day.

Why do you think the sport is so neglected in India?
I think the entire system needs an overhaul. Earlier, we faced a lot of basic problems that hindered practice. For starters, when we reached the practice ranges, we would get to know that the cleaner has not arrived so the guys would have to shoot in an unclean environment.

Then, on the eve of a world championship, the simplest things like air tickets would not be arranged until the last minute. These things are silly but what is good that there has been some improvement recently. The government has started to look at shooting positively, which is good.

On the future...
There is a lot of potential for Indian shooters to do well. That's why I'm here.

I like to coach the Indians because they are willing to learn. I'm sure with Bindra's gold more money and attention will be given to the sport. However, Indian people should understand that a shooter has a relatively different life cycle as compared to any other athlete.

Even at the age of 40, you're not too old to shoot. So it does not make sense to set targets like getting a gold in the next Asian Games or the upcoming Commonwealth Games. After seven, eight hours a day of practice over a long period of time medals will come. It's only a matter of time.

How India's shooting contingent fared

Women's 10m Air Rifle: Anjali Bhagwat finished 29th, Avneet Kaur Sidhu 39th
Men's Trap: Mansher Singh 8th, Manavjit Singh Sandhu 12th
Men's 10m Air Pistol: Samresh Jung 42nd
Men's 10m Air Rifle: Abhinav Bindra won the gold medal; Gagan Narang 9th
Men's 50m Pistol: Samresh Jung 41st
Men's Double Trap: Rajyavardhan Singh Rathod 15th
Women's 50m Rifle 3 position: Anjali Vedpathak 32nd, Avneet Kaur Sidhu 42nd
Men's 50m Rifle 3 prone: Sanjeev Rajput 26th, Gagan Narang 35th
Men's 50m Rifle 3 position: Gagan Narang 13th, Sanjeev Rajput 26th