India, Sept. 9 -- The year was 2017 and Shapath Bharadwaj was a bright teenaged double trap shooter who had burst on to the senior circuit, making the World Cup squad. The following year, double trap was dropped from the Olympic programme and Shapath had to switch to trap shooting.

"Obviously there's the technical side to the change that you can always learn. But when you're 16-17 and you're called a name-to-watch-out-for, considered among the best young shooters and then asked to start from zero, I think it takes a toll on your mental health," Shapath, 24, told HT about having to change from double trap to trap.

The psychological switch took time. "There is no provision in place to help you navigate such a huge change-to go from being ...