Asian Games 2014: Abhinav Bindra keeps everyone guessing on retirement

Abhinav Bindra with the bronze medal in Incheon

Incheon, Sep 23 (IANS) India's champion shooter Abhinav Bindra kept everyone guessing on whether he has retired or not saying he won't be able to train for 40-50 hours every week as he has done for the last 20 years and will only attempt to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics if he thinks he is still good enough at the international level.

A day after announcing his retirement from competitive shooting, Bindra, India's only individual Olympic champion, led the 10m air rifle team to a bronze before clinching the individual bronze here at the 17th Asian Games. Bindra also won a silver in the 2010 edition in Guangzhou.

"I am happy with the results. It was a tough competition today and the Chinese were excellent, but I am glad I managed to hang on and return with a medal," said Bindra.

The 31-year-old Bindra said he doesn't know how things will pan out for him now.

"I don't know we will see. Maybe I will become a professional again in two days time. I dont know how it is going to pan out," Bindra was quoted as saying by NDTV.

Bindra said it won't be possible for him to train like a professional shooter any more.

"Shooting is an amateur sport but everybody does it professionally. Look at all these Chinese shooters, they train 50 hours a week. It is nothing but professional and I did that for 20 years. I trained 40-50 hours a week and I cannot do that any more. Shooting is in my blood and I cannot do without it. If I don't shoot for two weeks my body becomes numb," said Bindra.

The former World Champion said he would be training just twice a week after the Asian Games.

"I will train twice a week from here on. Will try to compete domestically and compete at all the trials. And only if I am good enough for the world level like I did here I would try to go for the World Cups and win a quota for the Rio Games. My participation in World Cups shall only happen if I feel like and only when I am playing good enough with better scores. I will then try for the quota place and would become a hobby shooter," he said.

Asked if there was any regret on missing out on an Asian Games gold, Bindra said he was "absolutely delighted with what he has achieved."

"I dont have any regrets at all. I think when you go into a shooting competition you dont know what colour of medal you will get especially with the new rules. If you end up with the medal I think it is a fantastic achievement. I am absolutely delighted with what I have achieved," he said.

Bindra said he doesn't feel like a veteran among the crowd of young shooters. "I feel fine," he said.

Bindra had announced Monday that he would retire from competitive shooting after the 10m air rifle competition but added that he would still give his last shot at the 2016 Olympic Games.

It created confusion and the shooter later clarified saying: "I want to be a hobby shooter for a bit. If I am shooting well enough to compete at World Cups, I will surely go for trials and compete. If I qualify for Rio of course I will compete."

Bindra announced in July that the 2014 Glasgow Games would be his last Commonwealth Games and he finished it off in style by winning his maiden singles Commonwealth Games gold.

In 2006, Bindra became the first Indian shooter to become a World Champion and two years later he scripted history by winning the individual gold medal in the 10m air rifle event at the Beijing Olympics.

Bindra, who was the youngest participant at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, has four Commonwealth gold medals. He won singles silver medals in 2002 and 2010 and bronze in 2006.