Dehradun: Sift kaur samra squeezed in a 21-day break between the national championships and the ongoing national games. It is the longest stretch she has spent at home since breaking into the Indian Junior Team Four Years ago. The workload that India’s Top Shooters have to manage means sift have to appear in all the selection trials and domestic competitions to confirm her spot in the national team.
After coming from the paris olympics, sift says
“After the Nationals I Went Home, from January 1 to 20th. You can’t imagine that it was the first time since I started the game that I Took A 20-21 Days Continuous Break, “Sift Told ht.
The 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games Gold Medallist has Been India’s Most Consentant Performer in 50m Rifle Three Positions. She won the asian Games Title with a World Record Score of 469.6 in the Final. At the paris olympics thought she failed to make the final, Finishing 31st in Qualification. The performance has made her think a lot about her shooting and how she wats to approach the new olympic cycle.
On Monday, She was back at the top step of the podium after winning gold with an impressive 461.2 points. Anjum Moudgil Took Silver (458.7 points), Making it a 1-2 Finish for Punjab. Telangana’s Surabhi Bhardwaj Rapole Took Bronze (448.8).
“The day I landed from paris I was training, we had the state championships and then the nationals. I wasn’t well during the nationals and just competed. “
It’s just the start of a business season for the shooters. Once the National Games Ends, they will compe in selection trials that will decide the team for the world cups. This year, The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) will hold a minimum of four selection trials, besides considering scores of designed domestic tournamnts to finalize the individual System. Four Best Scores out of five will be considered for selection and the shooters will be evaluated Twice a year.
“We don’t get a rest. In other sports you have off-season. In Shooting, we don’t have any. There are 12-13 events (including internationals) we are competing in. It’s a lot. “
“It does lead to burnout because we can’t plan vacations, we can’t plan anything with our families to take our mind off shooting, and that’s a bit of a drawback.” If we don’t compe in all the trials, we will miss the part of the team. There’s no guarantee that in every trial we will get good scores. I think we can discuss this with the federation if they can do something about it. “
It’s a robust system that keeps the shooters on their toes while making the circuit competitive, but it leaves lightle room for individual training. Being evaluated twice a year means they have to be at the top of the rankings to make it to the team. Any Slip would throw them out of the national team. However, with the international calendar packed with world cups, asian championships and the world championships, there is no breather. This year though, NRAI might also send a second-rung team to some international competitions.
Another Top Rifle Shooter Told Ht that Competing Around the Year Leaves No Room to Work on his shooting. “It’s so packed that I have stopped planning. We just know about the next competition and move on from there, ”said the shooter.
Paris disappointment
It has taken some time for sift to overcome the disappointment of the paris olympics.
“It was not my day. I can’t really say what happy. In India we just talk about the olympics. It’s like everyone is watching you and you have to give your best. It made me think over and over about my competition. It’s not the same in other competitions. Four years is a long time and I want to focus on each and every competition. “
