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Shooter Rahi Sarnobat has set her target on more Olympics after Tokyo 2021
The Tokyo Olympics qualifier, now scheduled in 2021, is confident of delivering her best in the international event
The coronavirus lockdown restrictions have left shooter Rahi Sarnobat to follow dry fire practice and focus on physical and mental training at her home in Kolhapur.
The Tokyo Olympics qualifier, now scheduled in 2021, is confident of delivering her best in the international event.
“I have a different way to look at the current scenario. It is a good time to rest and get back to shooting in the latter half of the year. Most of the shooters were practising continuously since 2018 so this break will help us to get recharged and deliver a strong performance,” said Sarnobat, who won gold at the Shooting World Cup in Munich, Germany, in the 25 metre pistol event in May 2019 to secure her Olympics berth.
“Why should I get nervous of the Olympics postponement? The event will not be my last one as I aim to represent India in at least 5-6 more Olympics. Shooting has an advantage over other sports because age is not a factor here,” said the 29-year-old shooter who trains at Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex range in Balewadi. She left for her Kolhapur home on March 20 after the Shooting World Cup in Delhi was postponed to May and later cancelled.
“All the international tournaments have been cancelled for the year and we don’t have any domestic tournaments till September. The situation is uncertain and we cannot do anything about it,” said Sarnobat.
“I can set up a 25 metre range at home, but it is not allowed in my residential area. It is better to focus on other aspects of the game like improving body balance, physical techniques and overcome the challenges that I used to face while competing in the past,” she said.
Since 2017, Sarnobat was training under the German-Mongolian coach Munkhbayar Dorjsuren and her contract was to end in 2020 after the Olympics, but with the event postponed by a year, she is yet to decide on whether to extend the contract or not.
“I always wanted a coach for a specific period of time to work on a few aspects of my game which has now improved. So, let’s see how everything works out,” said Sarnobat, who is spending so much time at home for the first time after 2006.
“Parents are happy. We have a joint family of nine members and three of them are of my age so I am having a good time playing board games or cricket inside home. A lot of fun activities await when I am done with my training session every day,” Sarnobat said.
