Nagoya, Sep 25 From “extremely sad” to “over the moon” in less than 48 hours, Suruchi Inder Singh and Kamaljeet completed a remarkable turnaround at the Asian Games, carrying the hurt of two disappointing outings before delivering India’s first shooting gold of the Games here on Friday.
Both had gone to bed with their Asian Games campaigns threatening to slip away.
Suruchi had endured a disastrous women’s 10m air pistol qualification on Wednesday, missing out on both the individual and team medals after shooting 20 points below her average.
Kamaljeet’s heartbreak came a day later when he shot 580 in the men’s qualification, finished ninth and missed the final by a solitary point.
Then came Friday, and a clean slate.
“It was not our day and we missed the team and individual medal in women’s 10m air pistol. But today was our day, India’s day,” Suruchi said after pairing with Kamaljeet to shoot a Games and Asian record 484.6 and comfortably beat South Korea for gold in the 10m air pistol mixed team event.
For Suruchi, the reset began with one simple decision: forget what had happened.
“I rested the full day after the match on Wednesday when we could not win the women’s team and individual medals. I simply erased that result from my memory,” she said.
But it was easier said than done.
The 20-year-old from Jhajjar had been shaken by a performance she barely recognised. Her qualification score was 20 points below her average — something she said she could not remember happening before in her competitive career.
“My maths went bad. Tell you frankly, I was extremely sad. I was only thinking where did I go wrong. I wasn’t expecting such poor scores. I shot 20 less than my average scores. My qualification has never been that bad. I don’t even remember when I shot so badly in my competitive career.”
She went back to her room, slept and woke up the next morning determined to start afresh. Coach Samresh Jung helped put the disappointment in perspective.
“He said, ‘Don’t worry, it was not in your hands. You’ll have a second chance to prove yourself.’”
Kamaljeet had finished ninth in the men’s 10m air pistol qualification on Thursday, missing the final by one point. He had begun to fear that his maiden Asian Games would end without a medal.
“I was very sad. I was depressed as I felt that I would have to leave my maiden Asian Games without a medal,” he said.
Then came the call that changed everything.
“(Samresh) Sir told me there was a change in the 10m mixed team event and that I was being brought in in place of Kedarling (Uchaganve). I was overjoyed by the godsend message. I had got one more chance to bag the elusive Asian Games medal.”
There was barely any time to prepare for the new partnership, but Kamaljeet was ready.
“As far as I am concerned, I am ever ready to shoot. I like such challenges every day.”
Suruchi, meanwhile, had another task. After people around her spent the morning trying to lift her spirits, she took on the job of getting Kamaljeet out of his own dejection.
“Since morning people were trying to pep me up and then later in the day, I donned the role to pep up Kamaljeet, who too was reeling after the men’s 10m air pistol show,” she said.
Being fellow Haryanvis also helped. Suruchi is from Jhajjar and Kamaljeet from neighbouring Rewari, giving the two an immediate familiarity as they prepared to step onto the firing line together.
Once there, Suruchi went back to the basics.
“I have to play a relaxed game and not think too much,” she said. “It’s just technique for me — sight, trigger, position.”
She had targeted 295 in qualification and shot 296. For the final, she had set herself a mark of 246.0 and finished just short at 245.7.
“Marginally short,” she said with a smile.
It was more than enough on the day.
Kamaljeet admitted he let a few poor shots creep in towards the end, but the pair held their nerve and stayed ahead of South Korea to get over the line.
“The feeling after winning the gold today is great. From sad yesterday in my room… to over the moon today.”
For Kamaljeet, the gold also fulfilled a personal ambition. At his maiden Asian Games, he wanted to leave with a medal before the pressure and expectations grew at subsequent editions.
“I had come into my maiden Asian Games to go home with a medal. In subsequent Asian Games, the pressure to perform and expectation increases, so I wanted to get it off my back in my first Asian Games,” he said.
The 23-year-old from Rewari took up shooting in 2019 after his farmer father encouraged him to pursue something alongside academics. Much of his early training involved dry-holding a pistol before he broke into the Indian team in 2023.
He joined the Army as a Havildar in the Grenadiers just before the Asian Games. His maiden Games had appeared to be slipping away.
(PTI News)
