Asian Games 2023: 'Special talent' Ramita lives up to her billing
Competing in a quality field that included world No.1 Jiayu Han and World Championships bronze medallist Ghosh, Ramita shot with admirable calm and precision.
At Delhi's Karni Singh Shooting Range two months back, as Indian rifle and pistol shooters went about their business, High Performance Director (HPD) Pierre Beauchamp took this reporter aside and pointed at a frail teenager quietly peppering the bull's eye. "Watch out for her. She is a special talent," Beauchamp said of Ramita Jindal.
At the Fuyang Yinhu Sports Centre range on Sunday, competing in her first Asian Games and into her second senior year, the youngster reposed the HPD's faith in style -- first combining with Mehuli Ghosh and Ashi Chouksey to win a team silver and then taking an individual bronze in the 10m air rifle range.
"I am very happy. I knew I would win something here to win two medals on the opening day of the competition is special," Ramita said.
Competing in a quality field that included world No.1 Jiayu Han, world No. 14 Yuting Huang, and World Championships bronze medallist Ghosh, Ramita shot with admirable calm and precision. She qualified in the eight-woman final with the second-highest score in the qualification (631.9) behind local favourite Jiayu who shot a qualifying meet and Asian record (634.1).
In the final, the Indian ended the first series of five shots in fourth place and steadily shot her way up, reaching the second spot midway in the final. If not for a lapse on the 19th shot where she shot a disappointing 9.9 and slipped from the second to the fifth spot, Ramita could have proceeded to the gold medal match.
"It was a high-pressure shot that didn't go my way," she admitted. "But more importantly, I kept my cool and stayed focussed. Shooting is all about staying in the present and we have to forget the last shot. That's what I did," she said.
Her next three shots read 10.5, 10.8m, and 10.4 that allowed her to claw her way back into the medal position. She eventually finished third, behind Yuting who shot 252.7 -- an Asian Games record -- and Jiayu whose final score was 251.3. Ramita aggregated 230.1 while compatriot Ghosh was next with 208.3.
"I have learned not to panic in moments like these where I have had a bad shot. I trust my process and technique to help me sail through, and that's what happened here," she said.
The presence of two Chinese and two Indians in the top four also indicated rifle shooting's pecking order in the continent and was a reflection of the rapid strides Indian shooters have taken in recent years. Coming off a successful World Cup cycle and a 14-medal haul at last month's World Championships, expectations were high from the shooters to deliver on the opening day. The pressure of expectation, Ramita said, never weighed her down.
"I take pressure as a motivation. It doesn't hold me back, in fact, it motivates me. Today, the pressure of expectations helped me give my best," she added.
Ramita, who took up shooting as a hobby just six years back, is already a double gold medallist at the Junior World Championships in Cairo, a feat she achieved last year. She finished fourth at the two senior World Cups she shot in Cairo and Bhopal this year before finally climbing the podium in Hangzhou.
"She has been in the top league for a while now which tells you she always had the quality," said national rifle coach Suma Shirur, referring to Ramita's twin fourth-place finishes in World Cups. "Bhopal, especially, was a learning experience and I am happy to see her improve so fast. Now that she has tasted success, I can see her achieving bigger things," the coach added. That includes gunning for the Olympics quota at the Asian Championships in Changwon (Oct 22-Nov 2), and Ramita is confident. "I am ready to win the quota now," she declared.
Earlier, the women's rifle team of Ramita, Mehuli Ghosh, and Ashi Chouksey opened India's account at the Asiad with a silver in the team event. The Chinese trio of Jiayu Han, Yuting Huang, and Zhilin Wang took the first gold medal of the Games, shooting 1896.6 in the final. The Indians shot 1886, followed by Mongolia (1876.9).
