New Delhi: Sift Kaur Samra had a stellar rise in international shooting until the Paris Olympics left her sore. Unable to live up to her high expectations, the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games champion was dejected with her performance after finishing 31st in the 50m rifle three positions event, at the National Shooting Center in Chateauroux.
She revisited her match several times in her mind, trying to figure out what went wrong. One thing she did understand was that the Olympics cannot be taken as any other competition because of the frenzied build-up to the tournament. Being a top Indian shooter and going into the Olympics as world record holder and favourite to win a medal brings with it immense pressure. Pistol shooters Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker felt it in Tokyo, Sift the rifle ace faced it in Paris.
She chose to deal with the failure on the range. A day after she came back from Paris, Sift was training for her state trials and she then took part in the World University Shooting Championship in Delhi. She also chose to stay among a close group of shooters who are her friends in the Capital, continuing with her training and allowing her mind and body to heal. Once she realised she was able to hold herself steady in the range, Sift took a break and spent time with family at home in Faridkot at the start of the year.
She quickly found her feet again in domestic competitions, winning the National Games gold and shooting high scores in the selection trials. In her first big international competition since Paris, Sift has bounced back, winning her first individual gold at the ISSF World Cup. The windy and cold conditions in Buenos Aires were challenging, but Sift was determined to prove a point. In a world class field that had two Swiss opponents, reigning Olympic champion Chiara Leone and 2021 Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Nina Christen, Sift topped the qualification with a brilliant 590.
In the final, Sift had a poor start in kneeling, but fought her way back in prone and standing, growing in confidence with each shot and jumping to the top spot. She scored 458.6 points in the final, leaving behind Anita Mangold of Germany at second (455.3). Junior world championship medallist Arina Altukhova of Kazakhstan took bronze (445.9).
“She has done it many times when she has lagged behind in kneeling, she then puts herself in reckoning for a medal,” said rifle team chief coach Deepali Deshpande on phone from Argentina. “Sift’s strong areas are prone and standing positions and today she was able to overcome a big deficit to win gold.”
“She is still young in shooting and it has taken her some time to overcome the Paris setback. She has been dealing with it in her own way, being in her comfort zone and with friends. She was training, competing after Paris. She had a sore shoulder to take care of. When she was competing in national competitions she was still carrying some of the baggage from the Olympics, but today I felt she was very comfortable, stayed focussed, much like her old self,” said the Dronacharya awardee.
Two months ago at the National Games in Gujarat, Sift looked back at her performance in Paris and felt it was just not her day. “I don’t know what really happened. But I think we put too much focus on one competition (Olympics). Everyone kind of reminds you of your match and it is like everyone is watching you. Then you feel like “oh, you have to be more focused”. It’s not like other competitions,” she had told HT.
Silver for Esha, Manu 6th
Returning to international competition after her Paris Olympics exploits, Manu Bhaker qualified for the 25m pistol final, but finished sixth. The double Olympic bronze medallist made a good start but slipped as the match progressed. On the brink of elimination, Manu lost the shoot-off with Doreen Vennekamp of Germany. She will compete in the 10m air pistol and mixed team events.
Asian Games medallist Esha was consistent through the 45-shot final. Three good series, where she didn’t miss a shot, took her to second place. She won silver with 35 hits. It was her second ISSF World Cup individual medal. The first came in Cairo in 2022, also a silver medal. China took the gold and bronze medals. Sun Yujie (38) won gold and Sixuan Feng took bronze. Manu had qualified third with a score of 585 while Asian Games medallist Esha shot 579 to be seventh going into the final.
In the men’s 50m rifle three positions, the seasoned Chain Singh finished with bronze. All Indians in the fray, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Niraj Kumar and Chain Singh qualified for the final. Singh finished third with a score of 443.7.
