Members of the Army contingent which collected 18 golds, 11 silver and eight bronze medals attribute their victory to the new Russian coaches Pavel Smirenov and Alexander Sidvorov.

The Army has roped in Pavel as a pistol coach, while Alexander is the rifle coach.

“Both these coaches are former Olympians and they bring a lot of match experience with them,” says Subedar Pemba Tamang of the Gorkha Regiment who won gold in the Rapid-fire pistol event.

“Though these coaches have been with us for the last two months or so, they have contributed in improving our technique and temparament,” said Tamang.

“They have passed on some small, but vital information regarding our technique like standing posture or positioning of the shooting arm,” said the shooter from Military Headquarters of War (MHOW).

“They also teach us how to mentally approach a closely-fought game,” said Tamang, who also put up impressive performances in the team category at the Nationals.