On a comeback trail, Olympic pistol shooter Rahi Sarnobat wins domestic title

Six months ago, India’s 2018 Jakarta Asian Games champion in women’s 25m sports pistol could barely stand for two minutes as she was still recovering from a neuro problem.

Last year in May she fell ill and was bedridden for nearly three months due to a neuro problem and hardly thought of regaining her lost fitness or competitive shooting.

Earlier this month, the Olympian shooter won the women’s 25m pistol title at the 21st Kumar Surendra Singh Memorial (KSSM) Shooting Championship held at Bhopal’s Shooting Ranges.

Rahi, in an exclusive interaction with Sportskeeda, stated that she was elated at winning the domestic title on her comeback trail.

“I’m still on the recovery path. The basic goal this year is to go out and do whatever is within my limits,” she said.

According to 32 years old Arjuna Awardee, she hasn’t recovered fully.

“I think it will take more time,” she added.

Representing Maharashtra in the domestic competition, she topped the qualification with 582 points out of a possible 600. She scored 36 points in the final to emerge triumphant ahead of Telangana’s promising shooter Esha Singh, who shot 31 in the 50-shot final. Madhya Pradesh international shooter Chinki Yadav was third with 28 hits.

Rahi’s next stop will be national selection trials beginning June 24 in New Delhi. The trials assume importance as the national team will be shortlisted for the Baku World Championship scheduled to be held in August

“My target will be to do my best. If I get selected for the national team, it will be good. If I’m unable to make the cut I will still be happy,” she said.

She stated that being confined to bed for nearly three months due to a neuro problem was a horrifying experience.

“It was a horrifying experience,” she recalled. “It was difficult for me to stand for a few seconds and I never thought I would be return to shooting ranges.”

When she first stepped on the ranges in January this year, she could barely move her hand or stand for more than two or three minutes. But she never gave up. Six months later she won a major domestic title.

On a comeback trail, the international pistol shooter from Maharashtra said that she is inching back to routine practice sessions.

“I would say I’ve recovered 95 percent. The remaining five percent will take time,” she said. “I’ve been visiting shooting ranges for more than a and I would love to continue my practice.”