Ace markswoman emerges on top in 10m air pistol in Asia Olympic Qualifiers for Shooting; Hits out at TOPS for not making Olympic preparation easy for her
It was April last year when Heena Sidhu almost secured the quota place for the Rio Games but missed out on the final berth at the ISSF World Cup in Changwon, Korea. For the next 10 months, this Punjab shooter was carrying the pressure of only qualifying in the 10m air pistol while targeting events to do that.
In November, Sidhu travelled to Kuwait for the Asian Shooting Championships to book her Olympic berth, but later found out that the event had been stripped of its Olympic qualifying status. Although she won gold, the wait only got longer.
On Wednesday at the Asia Olympic Qualifiers for Shooting in Karni Singh Shooting Range here, Sidhu knew this was her last chance to get qualification. She very well knew that the competition was going to be very tough as many other shooters were eyeing this last chance to book the Olympic ticket.
There was a sense of fear and apprehension. A long discussion with husband-cum-coach Ronak Pandit ahead of the start of the competition could well describe her state of mind. But the 26-year-old Patiala-born shooter kept nerves of steel to shoot her way to gold and secure India their ninth quota place for the Rio Olympics.
Sidhu topped the qualification round with a score of 387. Later, in the eight-woman 20-shot final, she shot 199.4 to finish at the top. She pipped Chinese Taipei's Tien Chie Chen (198.1) by 1.3 points to win the gold. South Korea's Gim Yun Mi (177.9) finished with a bronze. However, both the shooters had already qualified from earlier qualification tournaments and were not entitled for quota places from this event.
This also made Sidhu's passage easy as she only had to ward off challenge from two Iranian shooters Sebghatollahi Golnoush and Elham Harijani, and Singapore's Xiu Hong.
Sidhu led from start to finish as she consistently shot in the 10-point region while extending her lead over her formidable rivals from Korea and Chinese Taipei. She fired an excellent 10.3 in the penultimate shot and then with a precise 10-point shot in her final attempt, she secured the Rio Olympic berth and gold.
"I was nervous before the final as this was the last chance to qualify for the Olympics. But, as I started shooting in the range of 10s, I grew in confidence and the result is in front of everyone. This has come as a double delight for me as not only have I secured an Olympic quota but also ended up with a gold. I will be participating in the next two World Cups in the lead up to the Rio Games to keep a check on my progress," Sidhu said.
However, the other Indians in the fray disappointed with their performance as they failed to even clear the qualification hurdle in the men's 50-m rifle prone and women's trap.
In women's trap, Shreyashi Singh lost out in the shoot-off while Swapnil Kusale finished 14th and Sushil Ghale 17th in the men's 50-m rifle prone.
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