Rahi Sarnobat feels her technique worked well in the finale

08/23/2018

Rahi Sarnobat, who bagged a gold medal in 25m women’s pistol on Wednesday, said that it was her technique that helped her win the final at the last moment. The Maharashtra-born shooter defeated Thailand’s Naphaswan Yangpaiboon in a shoot-off in the finals after the scores were level after 10 rounds.

With this medal, the 28-year-old became the first Indian woman to win an individual medal for the country in women’s 25m pistol. She said that everything went as per her plans in the qualification rounds and the final and this medal has given her a new lease of life.

"This medal has given me a new life. There was so much pressure in the shoot-offs, but I decided to stick to my technique and it worked. The qualification went according to our plan. I was not satisfied with the score, but I managed to enter the final. Since I had missed a medal in the Changwon World Cup, this time I had made a strategy for the final along with my coach," Sarnobat told The Times of India.

The Indian shooter has fought back from both mental and physical difficulties in her career. It all started with the death of Rahi's first personal coach, Anatolli Piddubnyi, in 2015. The shooter was very close to the Ukrainian and his passing away hampered his preparations and also affected her mentally.

"It was emotionally draining for me as he was not just my coach, but also like my grandfather. At that stage I had even thought of quitting shooting," Sarnobat recalled.

That shocking incident was followed by an elbow injury she had suffered in 2015 that forced her to stay away from the 2016 Rio Olympics.

"Sitting at home for almost a year was not a good feeling at all. I was depressed and desperately wanted to restart my shooting,"

After recovering from her injury in 2017, Sarnobat decided to train under Mongolia-born Olympic medallist Munkhbayar Dorjsuren who also represented Germany.

"The injury was a physical hurdle, but the overall period was mentally draining too. I am glad I decided to train with Munkhbayar. She has won Olympic medals and she has an attitude of a winner, not just a participant. I needed that."

She had won bronze in the 25-metre pistol team event along with Anisa Sayyed and Heena Sidhu at the 2014 Asian Games at Incheon. In 2012, she had become India’s first woman shooter to win a World Cup. When asked about she winning the firsts for India, the shooter replied, “I feel all the firsts are made for me. I am not complaining.”

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Rahi Sarnobat feels her technique worked well in the finale

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