India’s eleventh gold medal came from the shooting arena with Heena Sidhu bagging her second medal in the Gold Coast games on 10 April.
The 25 meter pistol final saw Heena near the elimination mark at one point but the former world number recovered at just the right time and soldiered on towards the gold.
Her total score of 38 is also a new Commonwealth Games record. Elena Galiabovitch of Australia scroed 35 to take silver while Malaysia’s Alia Sazana Azahari got bronze with 26.
Heena had earlier won the silver in the 10m air pistol final where India completed at 1-2 on the podium with 16-year-old Manu Bhaker bagging the gold.
The fact that Heena managed to emerge a champion on Tuesday despite an injury in her trigger finger, speaks volumes of her determination and makes the victory all the more creditable.
After returning, Sidhu said that the number of gold medals won this year is higher than the last time as they were concentrating on the finals which really paid off.
Of course, the experience also mattered as we learnt how to handle the pressure as commonwealth games is an important event. Winning a medal here means a lot to me.Heena Sidhu
On the government’s schemes on funding for athletes, she said that it is important as the team needs the funding in order to get better facilities and better coaches.
Every support we get, from the government and from the private donors really helps us perform better.
Sidhu also stressed on the importance of gold medals in these event, saying that gold medals only determine the country’s standing in competitions and that the fact that India has more golds than the last games shows that the athletes have learned to handle the pressure.
Saying that the Indians are at par with international shooters now, Sidhu also said that if shooting is to be excluded from the games, it will prove to be a huge setback for India as shooting helps fetch medals for the country.
I hope shooting is included in the next games. Everyone knows the importance of shooting as it has brought a lot of medals in Olympics and Commonwealth Games as well.Heena Sidhu
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