New Delhi: By the time their adrenaline settled, Himanshu Dhillon and Rudrankksh Patil were left pondering over what they had achieved as well as what they could have done. Rudrankksh spoke about defeat and delight in the same breath. Himanshu rattled off about a dream debut and also of the disappointment of being undone at the final hurdle.
Himanshu, Rudrankksh and Parth Mane also took the team silver, giving India five medals from the first two days of shooting competitions. “I am delighted, but not content. Every time I step in the range, I aim to shoot gold. We train to shoot between heartbeats. It’s tough but thankfully, I could do it for most parts. Himanshu’s next stop was a skeletal shooting range in the gurukul and he gradually developed a liking for the sport.
Competing in a senior international event for the first time, Himanshu won silver medal in the 10m air rifle individual event with a score of 252.4, a whole 1.8 points behind defending champion Sheng Lihao of China whose 254.2 set a Games and a continental record. Rudrankksh, a former world No.1, was third with a score of 230.9. Because my parents wanted me to become independent, “I studied in a gurukul.
I found my rhythm in the second half of the match,” Himanshu told HT from Aichi. There was an akhada there and I tried wrestling for a couple of weeks before realising it was too much work,” he said.
I looked at him and wondered how I was shooting at 20,” he told HT. Once Himanshu found his way into the system, national high-performance rifle coach Manoj Kumar took him under his wings at Delhi’s Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range. “He has always been a very consistent junior shooter. What sets him apart is his temperament. “You could see it on his face. “The fact that you are a newbie can go for or against you. Appreciation also came from Rudrankksh. “Himanshu shot brilliantly. I frankly didn’t know what to expect of him, and to see him on the podium on his senior debut felt so good. “I am disappointed, no doubt. I came here determined to win a gold.
The tougher it gets, the better he shoots,” Kumar said. He is a confident young man who is a technically superb shooter,” said former rifle shooter Joydeep Karmakar. I have a World Championships gold, a World Cup Final gold, a few World Cup golds, but not a Games gold,” he said.
Today, it went for him as he shot without showing any nerves.
