Vanshika shoots gold with a faulty rifle

Damanjeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 25

Vanshika Shahi set high hopes heading into the second edition of the recently concluded Khelo India Youth Games at Guwahati and the budding shooter did not take away her focus from the gold medal even as she had to shoot with a malfunctioning rifle. The 19-year-old from Fatehgarh Sahib topped the podium with a final score of 451.3.

“During the Khelo India Games my rifle developed some snag during the qualifying rounds. The trigger was not working properly and even in between the matches I was coming back time and again to set it right,” revealed Vanshika.

A determined Vanshika though relied on her technique to prevail in the adversity. “I focused on my technique throughout and in the finals too and shot well to top the podium despite the hurdles,” the youngster heaved a sigh of relief.

Vanshika fell in love with the sport during her schooling years. A friend of hers used to practice at the 10m range established at their school and one day she decided to come along to see what it was all about. “I was just 13…a friend of mine used to practice shooting at the school range. I started to accompany her to the range and I found it really interesting,” recalled the shooter.

When most girls would kill time during their free periods chit-chatting, Vanshika, being an introvert, chose to spend time at the range, learning more about the sport and perfecting the basics. “In the beginning, we only used to practice in the free period but as I got better at it, I started to take it more seriously,” said Vanshika, BA second year student at the MCMDAV College, Sector 36.

By and by as her skills developed, Vanshika started participating in the inter-district matches that her school used to host, and climbing up the ladder she got over the wall when she qualified for the Nationals in the 10m rifle event in December 2013 – the same year when she took up the sport. Cut to 2018, this was the time she switched over to 50m event and in December participated in the Nationals and won gold both in the junior and senior categories.

Vanshika now has her eyes set on winning a spot in the Indian team when she heads for the selection trials in Kerala in the coming days.