Suruchi Nails Third Straight Gold in WCs

"I just pick up the pistol and shoot. I don't think too much at the firing station or even in a final. I have no pre-game rituals like most shooters nor do I visualize." That's how Suruchi Phogat had described her approach before leaving for the ongoing rifle/pistol World Cup in Munich.

- Shantanu Srivastava

NEW DELHI: A week on, she proved that while her methods may sound a little too simplistic for an elite shooter, it really doesn't matter as long as she can, well, pick up the pistol and shoot.

On Friday, India's latest shooting sensation rose above the elite field to nail her third straight World Cup gold, repeating her success from Buenos Aires and Lima in April. Unlike the twin finals in the South American leg where Suruchi had aggregated 244.6 and 243.6 respectively, Munich, with its assembly of shooting stars, offered a much tougher examination of skills and temperament.

"Munich is bound to be much tougher because all big shooters turn up. In South America, to be honest, the competition was not that challenging," she had said. Sure enough, the 19-year-old was up to the task in Germany, her 241.9 edging her past Frenchwoman Camille Jederzejewski (241.7) and China's Yao Qianxun who shot 221.7.

The level of competition can be gauged from the fact that four of her seven challengers in the medal round competed at last year's Paris Olympics while reigning Olympic champion Oh Yejin and Paris bronze medallist Manu Bhaker couldn't even make the cut.