Aishwary Pratap Singh overcame growth spurt to clinch gold at World Cup: Suma Shirur
The 20-year-old from Madhya Pradesh shot his first gold at a senior World Cup despite having to alter his entire kit post-lockdown
Shooters spend a lifetime perfecting their art to a micro-millimeter. Any little detail can upset the balance, throwing the shooters off. Suma Shirur, who holds the joint world record of shooting a maximum of 400 points in 10m air rifle during the qualification round of the 2004 Asian Shooting Championships, is painfully aware of that.
That’s why the 46-year-old was glad to see her ward Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar overcome a particular challenge during the lockdown and clinch a gold in the 50m 3-Position rifle event at the recently-concluded ISSF Shooting World Cup in New Delhi.
“Post-lockdown he suddenly looked bigger,” Shirur told the Olympic Channel. “I left him looking like a kid and he came out looking like an adult!”
“Aishwary had a growth spurt during the lockdown,” she explains.
“His old jacket wouldn’t fit him anymore. So we had to actually have a new jacket, adjust the rifle according to size. He came to Mumbai and got a new kit done. It’s always a challenge with boys at this age because their bodies are growing. To be able to deal with that aspect of their life and coming on top despite that, I’m very happy to see that.”
Aishwary shot 462.5 to edge past the World No 1 Istvan Peni in the final to take the top spot on the podium. It was his first individual gold medal at a senior World Cup.
“Since coming out of the lockdown, he was shooting better with every competition,” Shirur said.
“He shot 1182 in the trials and then 1185 in the All-India University Championships. In the World Cup, his score was not very high but scores overall were low at the (50m) 3 Position events (in the qualifying round). That’s because of the very heavy winds on the day.
“But hanging in there and performing the way he did showed maturity beyond his years. Coming out and winning the finals was phenomenal.”
Having turned 20 in February, Aishwary is also the youngest Indian to win a shooting World Cup gold in the 50m 3 Positions event. He was the only one from India to win an individual gold in an air rifle event at the New Delhi World Cup.
The Indian shooters raked in a record haul at the New Delhi World Cup. With a total of 30 medals, including 15 gold, this was their best performance at a World Cup.
Apart from being Aishwary’s personal coach, Shirur, a former Commonwealth Games gold medalist, is also the High Performance Specialist Coach Junior Indian Rifle Shooting Team. She has shaped the careers of Divyansh Singh Panwar and Aishwary as both of them progressed through the juniors and have gone on to clinch Olympic quota places for India.
Divyansh won a bronze in the 10m Air Rifle individual event while he and Elavenil Valarivan also claimed gold in the 10m Air Rifle mixed team event. Divyansh, Aishwary and Deepak Kumar won the silver medal in the Air Rifle men’s team event. Aishwary also combined with Sunidhi Chauhan to win bronze in the 50m 3P mixed team event.
“I am extremely happy for Aishwary and Divyansh, because they are the only ones who won individual medals,” the 2004 Olympic finalist said.
“That is what we need, and that is what is important when you think of the Olympics. You have mixed team events but not team events at the Olympics, in the air weapon. But presently we don’t have a quota in the mixed team. Winning individual medals was very important.
“Divyansh has shown exemplary performance before lockdown and to continue at the same level after coming back was great. It was important for us coaches also to see how the kids have coped.
“Juniors thrive on competition. They have that raw competitive fire. ‘I want to be better than that person.’ So suddenly when competition stopped keeping them motivated, and keeping them hungry, making them do the wall holdings and dry practice was very challenging.”
The New Delhi World Cup was the first international competition for the Indian contingent after more than a year. And as such, it helped the shooters, as well as the coaches, gauge just where they stand in the run up to the Olympics.
“It was very individual, the way they dealt with the lockdown,” added Shirur.
“But initial part was difficult for all. We really had a couple of months of doing nothing. So when they came back, just standing there at the lanes for so many hours was in itself a challenge. Overall the stamina had gone down a little bit. Also for most of them, their kits needed some changes. They needed to fine-tune their rifles, equipment. Each one had their own challenges.
“After the lockdown, this was the first World Cup, first international competition. Everyone was looking forward to it, especially because the Olympics are on. Keeping that in mind, it was important for the shooting world to get started. Keeping the Olympic preparation in mind, this was a very good beginning.”
Encouraged by their recent performance, and the way they held up technically and mentally despite the disruptions, Shirur is optimistic about the future. “The boys look ready,” she sums up.