Raiza of Panchkula books berth for Paris Olympics
Deepankar Sharda
Chandigarh, January 20
Raiza Dhillon’s mother wanted her to learn Bharatanatyam when she was five-year-old, but she would rather sit with her father as he cleaned a gun.
Now 19, Raiza today booked her berth for the 18th Paris 2024 Olympics in shooting after she won silver in the women’s skeet final at the Asia Olympic Qualification shotgun tournament in Kuwait. The ace shooter is perhaps the first from Panchkula to secure Olympics quota (in skeet) at the age of 19.
Her passion for guns
My grandfather Jagirdar Gurinder Singh Dhillon owned over 12 guns. I adore those pictures of him carrying all those guns. To win India’s first women’s skeet quota means a lot to me. — Raiza Dhillon
Raiza started rifle shooting at the age of 12 but shifted her focus to skeet at 16.
A student of MCM DAV College, Sector 36, she did her schooling from Strawberry Fields High School, Sector 26. Raiza is trained by Punjab’s Amrinder Cheema and Olympics gold medallist Italy’s Ennio Falco. Inspiration comes from home for Raiza as her father, Ravijit Singh, was once an aspiring shooter and was keen on playing for the nation. Her mother, Gul Dhillon, is Sarpanch of Shamgarh (Karnal) Panchayat. Her parents pushed Raiza to live her dream of taking the nation to new heights in shooting.
“I came here (Kuwait) without any expectation, but I am happy to gain the 2024 Olympics quota. I had never thought of achieving this feat at this phase of life. However, hard work really paid off well,” said India’s top ranked junior shooter.
When asked about missing gold, despite leading initially, she added, “I got overwhelmed with the lead. I will be definitely working on this.”
It was during last year, the young shooter had all eyes settled on her as she won silver medal in the women’s junior individual event during the 2023 Asian Shooting Championship at Changwon (Korea). She won gold in the mix team event and women’s team event. She claimed 17th position in the ISSF Senior World Cup (at Cyprus) and claimed individual silver medal in the ISSF Junior World Championship, at Korea.
Raiza led the six-women final till halfway. She missed a few targets to cede ground to China’s Jinmei Gao and finished second with 52 hits. In the beginning, she was on top of the table with six out of six targets. She continued to lead the final with 14 hits, remaining two ahead of Jinmei.
“My grandfather Jagirdar Gurinder Singh Dhillon owned over 12 guns. I adore those pictures of him carrying all those guns. To win India’s first women’s skeet quota means a lot to me,” she added.
