First Touch: How did Yashaswini Singh Deswal take to shooting?
The world no. 1 started shooting when she was just 14 years old
The 2010 Commonwealth Games is regarded as one of the brightest spots in the history of Indian shooting. Amidst huge support from the crowd at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range, the shooters put on a remarkable display that helped India finish with 30 medals, which included 14 gold, 11 silver, and five bronze. Amongst the fans assembled at the area was a young Yashaswini Deswal.
"When I saw the shooters from India and abroad, I felt good. I really liked this game,” stated Deswal
She visited her uncle's army unit and got first-hand experience of guns and weapons which further sparked her interest in the sport.
Deswal's father is an IPS (Indian Police Service) officer and is the Director-General of Indo-Tibetan Border Police. For her to take an interest in shooting wasn't unnatural. In 2012, at the age of just 15, she decided to take up shooting professionally and started training under coach Tejinder Singh Dhillon.
Incidentally, Dhillon too served in the police force as the Inspector General of Police at the CRPF Academy in Gurugram.
“Yashaswini was physically very frail but very disciplined. We had established a shooting range at home for her in Panchkula, and it was shifted to Delhi when her dad was transferred,” Dhillon recalled.
Success at the Junior Circuit
Deswal participated in the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China and finished sixth in the finals. It was a commendable performance given that it was her first international outing.
In 2016, at the ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl, she made the most of her experience of a major event and won silver in the 10m pistol individual pistol and team event.
Her dominance in the junior category continued and she won gold at the 2017 ISSF Junior World Championship and in the process, also equalled the world record of 235.9.
How did Yashaswini Deswal qualify for the Olympics?
It was one of the most memorable performances of Deswal that helped her bag the ticket to Tokyo 2020. In the ISSF World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, she bagged a gold medal beating multiple Olympic champion Olena Kostevych by scoring 236.7 in the final.
"My fight was with myself, so there was no pressure of shooting against the Olympic medallist. I had to prove a point that I am capable of pulling it off at a bigger stage. I was yet to make the podium at a world-level meet in seniors. Thankfully, I did it here," she commented after the remarkable victory.
In 2021, she has been in fine form and if she wins an Olympic medal it should come as no surprise. In the New Delhi World Cup, she beat Manu Bhaker and five-time Olympian Viktoria Chaika to clinch the gold medal. At the European Championship, she finished third (573) in the MQS section beating Manu Bhaker once again who finished a point behind.
However, in the Osijek World Cup in Croatia, which was the last competition before the Olympics, her form dipped and she finished at the bottom in the finals. This spurred her on to train even harder for the Olympics in the final stage and the Panchkula-based athlete should reap its benefits in Tokyo.
When will Yashaswini Deswal's Tokyo 2020 campaign start?
Deswal will be in action competing in the 10m Air Pistol event in the wee hours on July 25, Sunday. She will also partner Abhishek Verma in the 10m Air Rifle mixed team event.