Heena, coached by her husband Ronak, wins gold at Asian Airgun Shooting Championship

Pune: Husband-wife combinations are not new to sports. Athletes Anju Bobby George and her husband Robert have been the trend-setters in India. Heena Sidhu Pandit — who won gold in women’s air pistol in the 7th Asian Airgun Shooting Championship held in Kuwait — is the new addition to the list. She is coached by her husband Ronak, who is himself an international shooter of repute. Ronak took a break from competitive shooting to assist his wife, who was also the first Indian pistol shooter to bag gold in the ISSF-World Cup finals held in November last year. “Our combination is definitely grooming well and it is a success story. Most importantly, the age factor plays a vital role. Usually an athlete and the coach have an age difference of about 20-30 years on an average. There is almost a generation gap and sometimes, our attitude and way of working is questioned by them. At times, the athletes also find it difficult to comprehend the methodology of the coach,” Heena told dna from Kuwait on Tuesday. She also felt it is important to have a healthy chemistry with the coach. “Many a times, a problem has multiple solutions and all would seem fine, but to know which would prove beneficial at that given instance requires high level of understanding,” said Heena, who has Anatolii Piddubnyi from Ukraine as her technical coach. For Heena, this championship is the ticket for the big league ahead this year, as the best international shooters are battling under the same roof. “I am sure now we can do much better in the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games this year. I will be relieved only after I do well in those two championships,” she added. But she complained that some people question Ronak’s strictness as coach, considering he is her husband. “They tend not to take us seriously. It is time people understand that we are professionals who happen to be married,” Heena said.