CHENNAI: Late on Tuesday, pistol shooter Suruchi Singh nailed her second gold medal in as many weeks. For an 18-year-old (who'll turn 19 soon), who was taking part in just her second World Cup, it was mighty impressive. In a sport defined by the finest of margins, Suruchi was operating with an air of calmness, especially during crunch moments, to trump some big-hitters of the game including her senior compatriot Manu Bhaker, double Olympic medallist.
In a tense final of the women's 10m air pistol event at the Las Palmas Shooting Range in Lima, Suruchi and Manu were the last women standing (eight had started the final). Both ended with scores below 10, but it didn't matter as the teenager had done enough to clinch gold with a tally of 243.6. Manu had 242.3 while China's Yao Qianxun finished third. Less than 24 hours later, Suruchi kept up her medal streak by winning gold alongside partner Saurabh Chaudhary in the mixed team event.
Suruchi's golden run in Peru also highlighted that last week was no fluke. In the season-opener (ISSF World Cup) in Buenos Aires (Argentina) last week, Suruchi had followed a somewhat similar path to return with gold. Moreover, she had also bagged a bronze medal in the mixed team event.
Hailing from Jhajjar, Haryana, Suruchi could have been wrestling in the famed Akhadas if not for an injury. Like many in her state, Suruchi's father Inder Singh, inspired by Virender Singh (three-time Deaflympics gold medallist), had wanted her to follow the tradition and take up wrestling.
"I wanted to make her a sportsperson. Shooting is a fair game. I had enrolled her in wrestling but she had suffered a collarbone injury. She had trained for just three months and she had suffered an injury during a practice session. That is why I wanted to push her into shooting. I was with the Army and I had a little bit of knowledge about the sport," Inder told The New Indian Express.
"My idol was Virender Singh (three-time Deaflympics gold medallist), also goes by the name Goonga Pahalwan, who is from my village. We could not do wrestling, so we chose shooting."
Inder, who took Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) from the Army to support her, initially handed her lessons at home before he enrolled her in Guru Dronacharya Shooting Academy, an academy in Bhiwani that has been in operation since 2014. That was just the first step as they have had to make many sacrifices along the way. "It (travel) is about 50kms away. We go by train. We have a local train that goes there (Bhiwani). It takes about 90 minutes or so (one way). That has been the case for a long time."
Moreover, her father had also taken loans in order to meet her shooting needs. "I have somehow managed... I have taken loans here and there to manage her expenses so far. The Olympic Gold Quest has been supporting her since last September," he said.
Those sacrifices have paid off so far as it's the Guru Dronacharya Shooting Academy where Suruchi met her coach, Suresh Singh, also an ex-Armyman. Suresh has been guiding her ever since. Before matches, it has become a custom for Suruchi to have a chat with Suresh and share ideas. The coach is obviously stoked with his ward's exploits in the two World Cups. "It's amazing," he said.
Like her father, Suresh also gained trust in her very early on. "I have a lot of faith in her. She has been doing well for the last one year or so. Her technique and her methods have been top notch and she's operating with loads of confidence at the moment. It has been three, three-and-a-half years or so since I started training her. Before that she was doing basic training under her father."
According to the coach, Suruchi, a BA first-year student, has an eye for detail and is also willing to do the hard yards. "When she first joined us, she was very attentive. She was not aware of the techniques then. We had to start from the basics. Whatever I used to tell her, she would give her work on it with full dedication," Suresh, who has a batch of around 50 trainees in total, said.
Unlike many coaches in the country, Suresh is not a fancied name and has never been part of national or international competitions. It was his passion for shooting during his service in the Army that propelled him to start the academy. Interestingly, Manu had also trained at the academy in 2016.
Three gold and one bronze within eight days or so. It's certainly gold standard shooting, something Suruchi would hope to keep up.