Pooja shoots bronze in WC opener

Sabi Hussain

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 24

In one of the corners of the Karni Singh Shooting Complex’s final range, a woman in her mid 50s was reading a prayer book, Ganesh Vandana. In between, with 

her eyes closed and hands folded, she would mumble bappa morya. 

She followed this routine for the entire duration of the women’s 10m air rifle final, without looking at the electronic leaderboard for even once. 

The home supporters at the range were both nervous and excited as India’s Pooja Ghatkar’s fortune ebbed and flowed during the course of the tense medal chase. 

Ghatkar was the lone Indian shooter to have qualified for the final after finishing second with a score 418 in the qualification stage. 

The tension was palpable, but for that one woman, it was time that her years of sacrifice, perseverance and prayers were answered. 

And she was not disappointed, as her daughter climbed the medal podium. 

That woman sitting quietly in one of the corners was 56-year-old Bharati, mother of Pooja Ghatkar, who had flown all the way from Pune to see her only child compete with the world’s best. 

The 28-year-old former Asian champion, Ghatkar, did the nation proud by clinching a well-deserved bronze medal in the 10m air rifle on the opening day of the ISSF Combined World Cup for Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun on Friday. 

Ghatkar won the medal in her third attempt after finishing fourth at the Baku and Bangkok World Cups last year. 

Ghatkar, who had come into the competition as four-time Olympian Gagan Narang’s understudy, maintained her poise and concentration even after the blinder of her gun fell down at the 15th shot during which she shot a lowly 9.9. 

Ghatkar, who had to take her subsequent seven shots with an eye closed, displayed exceptional mental toughness and technique to shoot a 10.6, 10.8 and 10.7 on her 18th, 19th and 21st shots respectively. 

When China’s Mingyang Wu got eliminated on the 20th shot, Ghatkar was assured of a bronze. 

With a 10.3 on her 22nd shot, the Pune-based shooter settled for a bronze with a total of 228.8 after 22 shots in the 24-shot final. In fact, after the first two series of five shots each, Ghatkar was at the second position with a score of 104.6. But, that 9.9 on the 15th shot saw her slip to the fourth position before claiming her rightful place in the medal bracket with a 10.8 on the 19th. 

China’s Mengyao Shi won the gold medal with a world-record score of 252.1, while her compatriot Dong Lijie clinched silver with a score of 248.9.

Difficult phase

At the age of seven, Ghatkar lost her father to the illness. With no family savings in place, Bharati had to sell their flat in Talegaon Dabhade on the outskirts of Pune to take care of their household needs and to fund Ghatkar’s shooting dream.  

“It was a very difficult phase of our life. I left my lucrative teaching job when she was 11-year-old and started giving math tuitions from home to keep the income flowing. We always had financial difficulties as no relative and dear ones came forward to help us in our hour of crisis. I sold the flat in Talegaon to fund her education and shooting programme,” said Bharati.

“Shooting is a very expensive sport and it cost us a fortune to buy her equipment,” she added.

Narang’s mentoring

Ghatkar’s love for shooting started during her days in the National Cadet Corps (NCC) in her school. 

She won medals at the state and national level during her NCC days and later was included in the Maharashtra Government’s Kreeda Prabodhini scheme, which funded the promising talent. 

Ghatkar’s life, however, changed when she was taken into its wings by the Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ).

“When I won the nationals in 2012, the OGQ decided to take me on board. They would take care of my funding and equipment needs. In 2014, I clinched gold at the Asian Air Gun championship in the 10m air rifle event in Kuwait and that medal changed my life forever,” she said.

“Last year, I joined Narang sir’s Gun for Glory academy and he has been training me personally for the last 3-4 months. In fact, he gave me one of his guns for training purposes. Narang sir doesn’t train any other shooter personally, but after realising that I have a special talent, he started coaching me. He helped me improve my technique,” she added. 

other indians in fray

Men’s 10m air rifle final: Deepak Kumar (185.4) 5th, Ravi Kumar (122.0) 8th

Women’s Trap final: Rajeshwari Kumar 17th, Seema Tomar 22nd, Manish Keer 29th