Indian Shooters Can Win Medals at Tokyo Olympics: Abhinav Bindra

India failed to bag a single medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Abhinav Bindra with his gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. 

(Photo: Reuters)

India's young shooters have a "realistic" chance of succeeding at Tokyo Olympics, says Abhinav Bindra, who is "tired" of being the country's only individual gold-medallist at the Games.

The number of Olympic quotas stands at a record 15 after a highly successful 2019 that saw Indian shooters top all the Rifle-Pistol World Cups and the season-ending World Cup Finals. This was after they drew a blank at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

"The depth of talent in our country and the support has increased tremendously. A lot of the athletes are going to be 16, 17-year-olds when they make their Olympic debut and they have a realistic shot at winning medals at the Games, which says something," Bindra told the 'Olympic Channel'.

At the forefront of the incredible showing was an extremely talented youth brigade, something the Olympic champion took note of.

"At such a young age, to reach an elite level means that they are really, really talented,” Bindra said.

“They have been winning top competitions across the world and each one of the has what it takes (to win in Olympics). So I have my fingers crossed. I do hope they will come back with some gold medals and join me because I am tired of being the only one.”

Abhinav Bindra, gold medallist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics

Bindra hosted two refugee shooters at his foundation in Bengaluru last month. The Indian is associated with a noble project started by his friend and three-time Italian Olympic champion Niccolo Campriani.

Through the initiative, the duo aims to train the refugee shooters in air rifle and help them participate with the Refugee Olympic team, which made its debut at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Campriani's two hopefuls — Khaoula and Mahdi — made the trip to Bengaluru to train at his foundation.