New Delhi: A Phogat is making waves in Indian sport, but not in wrestling. Suruchi Phogat’s early brush with wrestling ended in injury on the mat, and she shifted to shooting for good. The 18-year-old pistol shooter is the find of the season following her spectacular performances in the domestic circuit.
On Wednesday at the Trishul Shooting Range in Dehradun, Suruchi shot gold in 10m air pistol at the National Games, beating a strong field that included Asian Games champion Palak Gulia and the seasoned Rahi Sarnobat, who is on a comeback. The teenager fired a brilliant 245.7, leaving Palak (243.6) second. Palak and Suruchi were neck-and-neck till the 16th shot and were tied at the top position with 162.3 points. Showing no signs of nerves, Suruchi’s next two shots were near-perfect 10.7 and 10.8 that gave her the edge. She never looked back from there. She topped qualification with a score of 585.
At the National Championships last month, Suruchi swept all three individual titles –
senior, junior and youth – besides the team and mixed team gold. Paris Olympics medallist Manu Bhaker and Asian Games silver medallist Esha Singh had announced themselves on the domestic stage by similarly dominating in one nationals.
“I go there with a winning mindset. I have confidence in my shooting and I back my training. I follow my technique and try to get the basics correct in every match,” Suruchi told HT. “My first series today was not that good and I was in fifth rank, but the second series was good enough to put me on top and I maintained my position.”
Competing in an event that has come to be known for Manu Bhaker’s Olympic bronze, Suruchi wants to carve a niche for herself. There’s a lot in common between them. Both come from Haryana’s Jhajjar district and Suruchi’s village Sasroli is a short distance from Manu’s home. The two started in the same academy and under the same coach — Suresh Singh.
“I have spoken to her (Manu) a few times when I started shooting. We used to go to Dronacharya Shooting Academy. She then moved out and started competing for India,” Suruchi told HT.
“The medals at the nationals last month gave me a lot of confidence. I couldn’t train much after that because I was appearing for my BA exams,” says the student of Government College, Birohar in Jhajjar.
Manu will begin her season in the domestic trials that begins next week with an eye on the World Cups and the World Championships later this year. Suruchi too will be there, looking to extend her hot streak and break into the India team for her maiden World Cup. Suruchi represented India in the Junior World Cup in Suhl in 2023 and in the 2023 Asian Championship, but she has discovered her range now.
“In the junior championships in Germany I was able to perform well but competition was tougher in the senior competition. I trained a lot after that.”
From an early age she wanted to take up sport. Her father Inder Singh was passionate about wrestling and the Armyman introduced his daughter to wrestling when she was 11. “Wrestling is famous in our village. I did wrestling for some months and broke my collarbone. Two years later, I started shooting. I wanted to do some sport and I was attracted to shooting because it’s an individual sport. My parents have worked hard to support my game and I want to do well for them.”
