Riya bags her first gold medal at senior level
Tears rolled down Riya Shirish Thatte’s face just minutes after winning the 25m women’s pistol gold medal in the National Shooting Championships on Monday. Having struggled last year to make an impact, Riya won the first big prize of her young professional career, and a congratulatory call from her coach Akshay Ashtaputre made her emotional.
“He just said congratulations over the phone and I started to cry,” Riya said. “I got emotional. I was not shooting well last year. It was not as per my expectations. I worked hard and gave my best today. It was a mental issue, more like self-pressure but I am glad I could control it today.”
Her father Shirish, who watched the rollercoaster final in which Riya fought through two shoot-offs, too was emotional.
Shirish, an Aurangabad court official and a former pistol shooter, has done everything to help her grow in the sport. Shirish, who set up a base for Riya in Pune, has funded her training after taking a private loan of around Rs 12 lakh.
“Most people will never even think of taking such a decision. I did it because I was a shooter,” Shirish told The Tribune on Monday.
“It looks easy but it gets expensive. We spent Rs 4.5 lakh just to import a weapon and 15,000 rounds of ammunition. It gets over in eight months. Then she has her personal expenses like accommodation charges. So it is not easy at all. But we do that for our child,” he added.
It will get harder as his 14-year-old son Vikram has also taken up the sport. “I will support him as well,” Shirish said with a smile.
Fightback
Riya, who edged Varidhi Goray having registered one more inner 10 after both registered identical scores of 576 in qualification, was slow off the blocks in the final.
Punjab’s Simranpreet Kaur Brar and Olympians Heena Sidhu and Rahi Sarnobat were the early pace setters. Riya won a shoot-off after the sixth series to survive the elimination. She then turned it around and scored a perfect score of five hits in the eighth and ninth series to get into medal contention. After Rahi was eliminated in the bronze medal position, Riya tied the final series with 31 hits with Simranpreet.
The duo could not be separated after the first shoot-off as both registered two hits. In the second, Riya blew away her competition with five hits to Simranpreet’s two to win her maiden gold medal at the senior level.
“I am unable to process (my win) but I am very happy,” the BA (LLB) first year student said. “It is just a mental game. I was under pressure first but then I got a break (with a shoot-off) and then I had to go for it. It was a do or die situation,” she added.
In the junior 25m women’s pistol event, Simranpreet beat Haryana’s Payal 5-2 in the shoot-off to win the gold medal. Both the shooters were tied at 34 hits. Riya finished third after registering 30 hits.
