In the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, 20-year-old pistol shooter Rahi Sarnobat was like a child let loose in a candy shop. Relatively inexperienced as a Team India member, she would shoot with nary a care in the world, aiming right, winning medals, her face breaking into a delightful smile each time.
Nine years later, Sarnobat is one of the senior shooters in the Indian senior squad, a responsibility she takes very seriously, weighing every query posed to her before giving a response. You can't help but think she has come a long way, experiencing the highs and lows of her shooting career and emerging a better, finer shooter in the process.
2018 was a great year for the 28-year-old from Kolhapur, Maharashtra. In the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Sarnobat became the first Indian woman to win a gold medal in shooting in a thrilling final, beating her Thai opponent in a shoot-out. That is not the only first to her name: In 2013, Sarnobat became the first Indian woman pistol shooter to win a gold medal in the ISSF World Cup in Changwon, South Korea, in the 25m pistol event.
Sarnobat had also won two gold medals in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. In the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, she won a bronze medal in the 25m pistol team event alongside Anisa Syed and Heena Sidhu.
In a team that also boasts of stars like Heena Sidhu and teen sensation Manu Bhaker, Sarnobat has been a quiet, understated achiever in her own right.
With 2018 done and dusted, Sarnobat, who trains in Pune, is now focussed on upping her game, starting with the ISSF Shooting World Cup, which is set to kick off in New Delhi from February 20-28. As many as 16 Olympic quota places are on the offer in this world cup.
“2018 was not about performance—it was more about working on technical stuff. This year, it will just be about high performance,” Sarnobat said to THE WEEK.
Sarnobat explained how the approach changes while competing in the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games as opposed to participating in a world cup with bagging an Olympic quota being the main priority. “CWG and Asian Games are mostly about winning medals. In the world cup, it will be about individual scores and looking to win the quota place for the country,” she said.
Asked how her shooting has evolved over the year, Sarnobat revealed, “My shooting was raw at that time (in 2010); I would say its more fine now... more precise. I have understood so many thousand things about my shooting,” she explains.
The post-Asian Games period was spent on training, especially the physical part, as in 2019, there will be no letup from the pressure of preparing for Tokyo 2020.
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“There were more competitions in 2018, so one couldn't devote much time to training. Post-Asian Games, I focussed on that. Going into 2019-20, I will be reducing the physical training aspect.” Sarnobat notes.
A shoulder injury in 2015 had Sarnobat taking a nearly year-long break from shooting and it took time for her to regain her form subsequently. However, what has kept Sarnobat going is the fact that she understands how her shooting career should shape up. “I don't want my career to be very high for few years and then nowhere. I want to have a long career in shooting and therefore work towards achieving it,” she argues.
The National Rifle Association of India is very bullish about India's chances of making the most of Olympic quotas on offer in home conditions. Raninder Singh, president NRAI, said, “We have a top fighting-fit squad and a good mix of senior shooters and young Turks who have proved their mettle time and again. I am confident of a good showing and we look to bag the maximum number of quotas possible.”