Shooting for the stars

Elizabeth Koshy, the first Malayali to win a medal in a national-level rifle sports championship, aims at her next target: The April Commonwealth Games in Australia.
Elizabeth Koshy | albin mathew
Elizabeth Koshy | albin mathew

As Elizabeth Koshy prepared to lift the rifle at the start of the 50m event at the World Police Games in Los Angeles in August, she was told of a rule change. “The organisers said that I had to remove the butt, which is the main support,” says Elizabeth. The Kerala girl was taken aback. Then the organisers explained their rationale: the Indian team consisted of professional award-winning shooters, and the competitors from other countries worked as policemen and did shooting as a pastime.

Elizabeth accepted the argument. “But I found it a bit difficult to adjust,” she says. Nevertheless, Elizabeth
ended up winning the gold in the 50m rifle prone and three-position events.
On the day she returned to her home in Kochi, she had a surprise visitor—Loknath Behra, the Thiruvananthapuram-based Director-General of the Kerala Police, who had come to congratulate her. Soon, there was an avid discussion and he offered her to train the state police team that he had decided to set up. “Six air rifles will be imported. But because of my busy schedule, I will only be a part-time coach and mentor,” says the 23-year-old.

So far, she’s had a fairly successful career. Elizabeth is the first Malayali to win a shooting medal; this was achieved at the National Games at Thiruvananthapuram in 2015.
She fell in love with the sport when she was 12. “My father took me to a pre-national event at the Muttom Rifle Club at Thodupuzha. There I saw was a 20-year-old lady shooting. I was immediately attracted by what she was doing,” says Elizabeth, who has won a few junior titles and still holds the 50m prone junior national record.

Seeing her interest, her father enrolled her at the club nearby her school—the Village International. Within a week, the coach, Suresh, told her parents, “I see some talent in her. She can do well.”
This turned out to be true. Within a year, Elizabeth qualified for the district, state and national championships.

One reason for her skill could be that shooting is in her genes. “My grandfather, Punnoose
Abraham, who owned a large rubber estate, would go hunting regularly. I remember seeing double-barrel guns and air rifles at house,” says the shooter, who has participated in World Cups, World Championships, Commonwealth Games, Asian Championships, as well as the South Asian Federation Games, in which she won two individual golds.

Of course, the unique thing about shooting is that it is an individual sport. “It is always about you and your weapon,” says Elizabeth. “You rise and fall by yourself.”Some time ago, she began to feel frustrated as she was missing the bull’s eye regularly. She blamed the ammunition and the weapon. “But soon, I noticed that there was a difference in my breathing pattern from shot to shot. I also observed that there was a change in the way I held the rifle. So I decided to concentrate on my body movements, and ensured that I had the same style for every shot that I took,” says Elizabeth.

As she goes about perfecting her technique, Elizabeth is also concentrating on qualifying for the Indian team, so that she can take part in the Commonwealth Games, at Queensland, Australia, in April next year. There will be a trial in November, the nationals in December and two trials in January. Based on the aggregate result, the top two will be selected.“Women’s shooting is very competitive,” says Elizabeth. “So, I am training very hard.”   

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