Early Olympic berth secondary to consistency: Rathore

New Delhi, Apr 30 (UNI) Ahead of taking off for the World Cup Shotgun in the United States, ace marksman Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore underlined consistency over a berth in the Beijing Olmpics on his priority list.

''The (Olympic) quota will come but don't ask when,'' Olympic silver medallist Rathore said here yesterday.

''Winning the berth at the earliest is not important. It may make you complacent. Consistency is the key. My effort is to raise my game to that level where even my worst performance is better than the best by my competitors.'' ''I have consistently been in the top 10 and I am happy about that,'' he said.

Rathore sets off tomorrow for the ISSF World Cup Shotgun beginning May 4 in Kerrville in the US and is satisfied with his preparations.

''My life revolves around preparations and they are shaping up well. I am confident of performing well in the upcoming events.'' After the Kerrville world cup, Rathore will pariticipate in the world cups in Germany and Egypt before taking part in the World Shooting Championship in Croatia.

On whether such a packed schedule was rendering shooters a cricket-like burnout, Rathore begged to differ.

''Olympic and Asian Games are once in four year events. What should we do in between,'' asked the Khel Ratna Awardee and added,'' It is upto individuals to get their priorities right and decide which event to play and which to skip.'' ''In my opinion, I am all right with the schedule as it means more exposure.'' Rathore also expressed satisfaction over the progress of the sport in the country although he felt more was needed to be done to improve the infrastructure.

''We need better infrastructure to get more medals at the international level. I am sure the administrators are listening.

Having said that, things are getting better and better,'' he said.

UNI DH PM VV1308