On July 31 last year, several Indians had their eyes glued to the TV screens as the men’s 10m air rifle finals were underway at the Paris Olympics. Star Indian shooter Arjun Babuta was fighting hard for a podium finish. At the end of Shot 17, the Indian was placed second, aiming for a silver medal. But within the next shot, Arjun was down to fourth. The Indians back home were in a tense mood, pondering whether he would manage to win a medal from shooting in Paris. At that point, he was 0.3 points behind third-placed Viktor Lindgren. After Shot 19, Arjun was still fourth, although the difference between him and Miran Maricic was just 0.2. However, on the 20th attempt, the Indian shot a disappointing 9.5, while Maricic shot 10.7. With a gap of 0.9, Arjun bowed out fourth, falling agonisingly short of an Olympic medal. Nine months later, at the ISSF World Cup in Lima, Arjun again fell marginally short, this time for a gold, but he ensured to make a glorious comeback with a medal this time. Asked by News18 Sports if pressure did get the better of him on both occasions, Arjun said, “When there is a shooting final, I think no one is looking at the scores. Everyone is focused on the shot and the technical elements. So, the ranking is not in my control in the end, and I focus on the action of the shot, which is my karma.” “I don’t focus on what the ranking is. I listen to the announcement, but apart from that, I just focus on my technique. I don’t chase the scores,” Arjun added. But do near misses trigger the thought of ‘what if?’ The Indian shooter explains how he changed his mentality over time to get rid of those thoughts. “Earlier, it used to be like that. I used to think that x could happen if I did y, but now I think that a decision that I made at a certain point is the best I could. Emotions are best kept aside while deciding. So, I think if I have decided at any particular moment in the past, then it is a conscious effort and I don’t regret it later,” Arjun says. For athletes, mental training has become a very crucial part of their process over the last few years. Asked what his mental training consists of, Arjun paints a detailed picture. “There are a lot of aspects. Mainly, we have to stay in the present and focus on our technique. So, that becomes the biggest challenge. It seems from an outside view that we just have to stand still, but it is important to know that our body is made to move, not to stand still,” Arjun says. “We have to shoot all 60 shots from a 10-meter distance and we can’t miss any shot. So there we need mental endurance, presence of mind, everything and how well we can keep ourselves there in every moment. That becomes a challenge. Then, getting over the victories and the losses as well,” he adds. Asked where he would want to see himself five years down the line, the star shooter laughs. “Itna lamba to maine nahi socha hai (I haven’t thought of anything that far). I would surely be doing something good. I prefer living in the present and focusing on the near future,” Arjun says. “If I am shooting, I want to see myself as an Olympic champion and the best shooter in the world (laughs),” Arjun adds.