Walking on air: Ambala’s Sarabjot wins air pistol gold

Tribune News Service

Vinayak Padmadeo

Bhopal, March 22

Having proven himself at the national scene over the last two years, Sarabjot Singh’s next target was a major international gold.

The 21-year-old, who won the National Championships title in 2021 and 2022, realised his dream today as he won his first ever ISSF World Cup gold medal here.

In a dominant display in the gold medal match of the men’s 10m air pistol event, Sarabjot thumped Azerbaijan’s Ruslan Lunev 16-0 to open the gold medal count for India at the World Cup. “I cannot express what is going through my mind right now. This is the first big gold medal that I have won,” said Sarabjot, who hails from Ambala.

In the race to 16 points, Sarabjot kept hitting scores of over 10.2 in the six-shot gold medal match to deflate the Azeri shooter. Lunev’s highest hit was a 10.4 that looked like earning him the first points of the match. However, Sarabjot found the perfect shot of 10.9 to end any hopes of a comeback from his opponent.

“I knew I was winning the medal when I was leading 10-0,” Sarabjot said. “The last shot was perfect as I was confident I could better his score to win,” he added.

Varun Tomar won the bronze medal after he finished with a total of 250.3 points in the ranking match. Sarabjot topped the ranking match with a total of 253.2 points to qualify for the gold medal match. Lunev was second with 251.9 points.

Sarabjot, whose father Jitender Singh is a farmer, picked up shooting during a summer camp in 2014. For the next two years, however, Sarabjot gave up the sport after he caught eye flu. He also did not have a weapon to call his own.

It was only in 2016 that he got serious and started training under Abhishek Rana at the Central Phoenix Club in Ambala. “I wasn’t serious enough and then I caught eye flu that forced me to miss the pre-Nationals then. I returned in 2016 and have been training under Abhishek sir since then,” Sarabjot said.

Since then, he has won multiple medals. “When I won the bronze medal in 2017 in the youth category it was then I thought I belonged in this sport,” he said.

Sarabjot had also tasted international success with the junior team. He won a mixed team gold at the 2021 Junior World Championships. “Now that I have won today, I want to win more,” Sarabjot said.

Women misfire

In the women’s air pistol event, India’s TS Divya finished fifth with a total of 197.1 points. Rhythm Sangwan finished a disappointing 13th after she totalled 572 points, while Manu Bhaker was ranked 16th with a total of 568 points in the qualification rounds.

The gold medal was won by China’s Xue Li after she beat Germany’s Doreen Vennekamp 17-5. The bronze medal was won by China’s Wei Qian.

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