India national shooting coach Sunny Thomas does not expect his wards to replicate their outstanding performance in the ongoing 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in next month's Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.
The veteran mentor said the level of competition in the Asian Games is way higher compared to the Commonwealth Games.
"Asian Games are going to be much more difficult. China is there and their standard, as we all know, is very, very high," he said.
Thomas, however, believes that Indian shooters will hold their own against some of the best shooters in the region in the Guangzhou meet.
"We are definitely improving. From one medal in '94 we have come a long way. And I must say we have got the best rapid fire team in the world," he said.
Aside from China, other teams to watch in the Asian Games shooting competition are Kazakhstan, South Korea, North Korea and Thailand.
Thomas, who has served as the national team chief coach over the past 17 years, also said that they are trying to recruit a foreign coach for the pistol team.
"Our problem is that we don't have a foreign pistol coach. We had a great pistol coach from Australia who was with us for 7-8 years from 1993. We feel indebted to him," Thomas said.
Pavell Smirnoff was initially approached to be the coach of the pistol squad but he opted to remain with the Indian Army after they hiked up his salary.
India has so far won 23 medals in the New Delhi meet, including 13 golds. Thomas is confident that his wards will surpass their 27-medal haul at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games four years ago.
"There are more events to come and there is a possibility of winning more medals. God willing, we will better 27 or at least equal that," he said.
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