At Paris Olympics, Guru Nanak Dev University will be watching its shooting stars

Neha Saini

Amritsar, July 25

As India begins its campaign at Paris Olympics 2024 with ambitions of creating history with a double digit medal haul, the Sports Department at Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) would be cheering loud for the young sharpshooters in Team India —- Sift Kaur Samra and Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar. The two are students of GNDU and would be competing in various rifle and pistol events as they aim to build on India’s strong history in shooting at Olympics.

This would be the second Olympic outing for Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, who was the youngest member of the Indian shooting team in Tokyo Olympics, while Sift would be making her Olympic debut.

Both star shooters made history for India in the Asian Games at Hangzhou last year by winning several medals and registering world records. Aishwary won gold in 10m air rifle team event (with a new world record); bronze in 10m air rifle individual; gold in 50m rifle team event (with a new world record) and silver in 50m rifle individual at the Asian Games, Hangzhou, China last year.

Sift Kaur holds the current world record in women’s 50 metre rifle three positions final she set. She won the gold medal in the women’s 50 metre rifle three positions event, followed by a silver in 50m rifle team event at the Asian Games, Hangzhou 2022. Both of them are students of BPT (Bachelor of Physical Education) at the GNDU campus.

Dr Kanwar Mandeep Singh, Director, Sports, and Rajwinder Kaur, university shooting coach, shared how they would be watching Olympics with excitement.

“We are hopeful that both of them would bring medals home as they have the skill and temperament to do so. Over the last year, they have competed in World University Games, Asian Games and several international tournaments to face some of the toughest competitors. This has prepared them well for Olympics as they would probably face the same competitors again,” shared Rajwinder Kaur.

She believes that Sift would be a key player for the Indian shooting team as she is a go-getter. “Sift’s strength lies in her mental fitness. She remains focussed, calm and unhinged under pressure, which is required in shooting. As an athlete, who is competing in her first Olympics, Sift would take it as any other competition as she gives her best every single time. That would take some pressure off while she focuses on her game,” said Rajwinder Kaur, who has been training both the students at the GNDU grounds.