Rashmika draws inspiration from Manu Bhaker

young new delhi: Rashmika Sahgal stood on the podium after winning the mixed team up shooting iron au with Kapil, her heart filled with pride as the national anthem was played and the tricolour went up. She also remembered the words of double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker.

At the Asian Championships in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, when Rashmika won the air pistol gold beating a stellar junior field, Manu congratulated her and told her how good she felt hearing the national anthem. Manu was in the senior side at the meet and took bronze. That was a month ago.

It wasn’t the first time Rashmika, 17, was meeting Manu, whom she considers her role model. When Rashmika competed in her first nationals in 2023, she went and spoke to Manu, who complimented her on her good scores.

“She (Manu) told me, ‘I want to see you shoot next to me’. Her words were a source of motivation, and next year I made it to the team,” Rashmika recalls.

After Manu’s Paris Olympics high when Rashmika met her again, she told her about fulfilling her own dream of making it to the Indian team. “She was very happy for me. In Kazakhstan we were both happy about India being on top of the medal tally.”

On Saturday, Rashmika won her second medal of the ISSF Junior World Cup here, having taken silver in the 10m air pistol on Friday. Rashmika and Kapil beat compatriots Jonathan Gavin Antony and Vanshika Chaudhary 16-10 in the mixed team gold medal match.

Young Rashmika has tried several sports like horse riding, swimming and badminton, a sport still close to her heart. Her father, Col Vikas Sahgal, introduced her to many sports before she took up shooting in earnest.

“Since my dad is in the Army, we travel every two years. I started shooting when I came to Delhi in 2022. It was a small Army range and my father was my first coach. I tried many sports. I was good at badminton, and I still play it every day. I competed at state level when we were in Ambala, but Covid came and I stopped badminton.

“It was not a sudden interest in shooting, but slowly I started liking it because it is so different. You can follow your process, everyone has their way of doing things, and you start to discover yourself.

“When I came to know that Manu also used to do a lot of sports before becoming a shooter, I felt, ‘wow, I have found someone like me.’ I see her as a role model.”

Raiza wins skeet silver

Paris Olympian Raiza Dhillon secured silver in the women’s skeet final. Raiza, one of India’s best talents, scored 51 while Italy’s junior world championships medallist Arianna Nember won gold with a score of 53. India’s Mansi Raghuwanshi took bronze.

“This year has been hectic for me. I have been playing back-to-back international competitions,” said 21-year-old Raiza, who also has a silver from the Suhl Junior World Cup this year. “Shooting this World Cup was very challenging, and I had to really push myself through the fatigue, but it was home ground and I can’t just give up, so I decided to fight it all out.”

She was leaving for Italy on Saturday night for training ahead of the World Championships. “This was my last competition in juniors. I was hoping to end with a gold. I have not been able to achieve that, but hopefully I will be able to do that in a senior World Cup.”

Italy also took the men’s skeet gold, with Marco Coco winning the title. India failed to win a medal in the competition.

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