Sift Kaur Samra Wins India's 1st Gold At Shooting World Cup, Esha Bags Silver

She revisited her match several times in her mind, trying to figure out what went wrong. One thing she did understand was that the Olympics cannot be taken as any other competition because of the frenzied build-up to the tournament. Being a top Indian shooter and going into the Olympics as world record holder and favourite to win a medal brings with it immense pressure. Pistol shooters Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker felt it in Tokyo, Sift the rifle ace faced it in Paris.

She chose to deal with the failure on the range. A day after she came back from Paris, Sift was training for her state trials and she then took part in the World University Shooting Championship in Delhi. She also chose to stay among a close group of shooters who are her friends in the Capital, continuing with her training and allowing her mind and body to heal. Once she realised she was able to hold herself steady in the range, Sift took a break and spent time with family at home in Faridkot at the start of the year.

She quickly found her feet again in domestic competitions, winning the National Games gold and shooting high scores in the selection trials. In her first big international competition since Paris, Sift has bounced back, winning her first individual gold at the ISSF World Cup. The windy and cold conditions in Buenos Aires were challenging, but Sift was determined to prove a point. In a world class field that had two Swiss opponents, reigning Olympic champion Chiara Leone and 2021 Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Nina Christen, Sift topped the qualification with a brilliant 590.