Rahi Sarnobat
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Rahi Sarnobat
Year of birth: 1990
Place of birth: Kolhapur
Started competing at top level: 2008
YEAR-WISE STATISTICS
2010-11
Gold: 2010 CWG (in pairs)
Silver: 2010 CWG (in singles)
Bronze: 2011 ISSF World Cup, Fort Benning
2013: gold at ISSF World Cup
Rahi first Indian to win World Cup pistol title
By Tushar Dutt TNN, 2013/ April/ 06 The Times of India
Rahi Sarnobat shot her way into history in April 2013 by becoming India’s first pistol shooter to win gold in a World Cup. The 22-year-old from Kolhapur won the 25m sports pistol event in the ISSF World Cup in Changwon (South Korea).
While six Indians had won gold in a World Cup before Rahi, three had done so in rifle shooting and three in shotgun.She is the first to win a pistol event.
Rahi scored 585 points (292 precision + 293 rapid-fire) in the qualification stage for the semifinal berth. She qualified at No. 4 among eight shooters for the knockouts, according to the new ISSF format.
Rahi raised her game in the first phase of the knockout. She scored 15 inner 10s and entered the final on the basis of finishing in the top two of the eight-player field.
Rahi Sarnobat created history on Friday, winning the 25m sports pistol gold in the World Cup in Changwon. Rahi held her nerve to edge past local favourite Kyeongae Kim in the final.
The Korean finished on top of the eight-player field, shooting 16 inner 10s. But she was out-shot by Rahi in the final, contested over seven series of five shots each.
Rahi pipped Kim to the post with three wins, two defeats and two draws in the series. Rahi had 20 inner 10s in the final. After five rounds, Rahi was trailing 1-2 (with two draws). But she kept her cool in the rapid fire and clinched the sixth and seventh series 3-1 and 2-1 (inner 10 scores) respectively.
The shooter, who is supported by Lakshya and trains at Gun For Glory (GFG) academy in Pune, said she had worked hard on improving her precision before the World Cup. “I was good in rapid fire but my precision was the weak link,” she told TOI. “In the last two months, I worked on my weakness and aimed at taking my precision score to 292-293, which I did here. Once I reached a total of 585, I was confident of doing well in the knockouts.”
When asked about the changes in her game after the London Olympics, where she finished a disappointing 19th, she said, “As soon as I came back from London, I changed my grip and worked on my fitness. That worked.”
Unlike other shooters, Rahi didn’t train at the Delhi camp. She preferred to train with GFG’s Ukrainian coach Anatoli Poddubny. “I am more comfortable training with him as he takes care of my problems,” said Rahi.
Piddubny paid a glowing compliment to Rahi: “Rahi, you are not only a very clever girl… today you are also the best ‘Marathi’ warrior!! GO AHEAD……”
2014: gold at CWG
India's Rahi Sarnobat won gold and Anisa Sayeed got silver in the Women's 25m Pistol event in July 2014.
2018: Gold at the Asiad
Biswajyoti Brahma, RAHI STRIKES PAY DIRT ON COMEBACK TRAIL, August 23, 2018: The Times of India
From: Biswajyoti Brahma, RAHI STRIKES PAY DIRT ON COMEBACK TRAIL, August 23, 2018: The Times of India
Kolhapur Girl Wins Nerve-Wracking Double Shoot-Off In 25m Pistol
Rahi Sarnobat kept her cool during the rare double shoot-off in the final to claim the gold medal in the women’s 25m air pistol event at the Asian Games on Wednesday, the feat making her the first Indian woman to claim a shooting gold in the continental event.
Rahi, who just two years back had come close to quitting the game after a frustrating elbow injury, went to the final in the 7th spot with 580 points in the qualifiers. But she went up the ladder as the contest progressed to take it to the shoot-off against Naphhaswan Yangpaiboon of Thailand in Palembang.
Both the shooters hit the target four times out of five in the first shoot-off, forcing yet another tie-breaker in the final, a rare in shooting. Rahi hit the target three times as against twice by her rival to make history with a Games Record to boot.
The 34 out of 50 shots scored by the duo was a new Games Record for the final. The bronze medal was taken by Min Jung of South Korea. This was India’s second shooting gold at the Asiad and came a day after Saurabh Chaudhary bagged country’s first in 10m air pistol. It was India’s seventh medal from the ranges.
Manu Bhaker, favourite for the event, had earlier advanced to the final as the best shooter with an Asiad qualification record score of 593 in the qualification round. But a series of below par scores saw her being knocked out as the third shooter from the eight-player final.
“For me the win is in many ways very special. I have got this after so many up and downs,” Rahi said after her maiden Asiad title.
Rahi, who was also the first Indian woman to claim a gold medal in the World Cup – in 25m pistol in Changwon in 2013 – came close to quitting the game when she failed to make it to the Rio Olympics in 2016 following an elbow injury. The injury kept her on the sidelines for over a year before she made a comeback.
Indian gold medals at Asiad
As in August 2018
Randhir Singh (trap),
Jaspal Rana (centre fire pistol),
Jitu Rai (50m pistol),
Ronjan Singh Sodhi (double trap),
Rahi Sarnobat
Saurabh Chaudhary (10m air pistol)
