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Having spent 19 long years guiding India’s shooting stars to four Olympic medals, Sunny Thomas has decided to step down as the national shooting coach.
The 71-year-old made his intentions clear on Wednesday after being accorded a rousing reception at the Cochin International Airport here upon his arrival from London via New Delhi.
“I think the time is right for me to retire as the national coach,” said Sunny Thomas.
“There comes a time when everything has to end. The Indian shooting scene is in good shape and I have decided to retire. It does not mean that I won’t be associated with the sport. Shooting is in my blood and I will continue to offer my services. But I am not inclined to become the national coach again. My efforts henceforth will be to promote shooting in Kerala.”
The representatives of the Shooting Sports Foundation India and the Kerala State Rifle Association, along with his family members and well-wishers, had come together to receive the 2001 Dronacharya Award.
His term as the national coach having ended with the Olympics, he said he had conveyed his decision to the National Rifle Association of India, of which he is the vice-president.
“I have been asked to continue, but I told them that I won’t take up the responsibility again.
“I had thought of retiring four times before, but carried on according to everyone’s desire. This time, I won’t accept any such request,” he said.
Though a little disappointed at his wards missing out on a gold medal in London, the acclaimed coach said that he was satisfied with India’s overall performance.
“Shooting is a tough sport to win medals in. It depends on that particular moment on the particular day. Even famed nations like Germany and Russia have returned from the Olympics without a medal.
India has won two medals. In fact, we have won medals in the last three Olympics. It is satisfying,” he said, adding that he would strive to nurture local talent as the president of the SSFI.
A native of Uzhavoor, Kottayam, Sunny Thomas had taken to the sport in the 1960s, winning the National Rifle Shooting Championship in 1976. He took up coaching full-time after retiring from St Stephen’s College, Kottayam, as professor of English.
He became the first ever national shooting coach in 1993. Since then, India has come to be considered a shooting hub, with Abhinav Bindra’s gold medal performance in the 2008 Beijing Olympics being the most glorious chapter of his reign. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore had won India’s first ever shooting medal - a silver.
In the 30th Olympics so far, India’s only silver medal - through Vijay Kumar - has come from the shooting range.
Rifle shooter Gagan Narang added a bronze.
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