New Delhi: India might have won their only medal in the Athens Olympics so far in shooting, but Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, who won that silver, believes the Games were unlucky for Indian shooters.

“In hindsight, I can fairly say that the Olympics were unlucky for us. If we were lucky Abhinav (Bindra) would have won a medal and may be one more would have ended up on the podium,” Rathore said on Tuesday at a felicitation organised by the National Rifle Association of India.

The silver medallist called on the private sector to invest more money into sports and said, “in my preparations all help came from government and nothing from private”.

Looking back at the performance of Indian shooters, Rathore said pistol shooter “Jaspal Rana proved what Indians can do at a very, very young age” winning the Commonwealth gold.

“And now we have Abhinav and Gagan (Narang) both young and promising shooters,” he said. Recalling his historic triumph last Tuesday, Rathore said he and other Indian shooters were well prepared.