Two months ago, when Haryana shooter Samrat Rana missed the final of the men’s 10m air pistol final in the ISSF World Cup at Ningbo, China, on the count of inner 10’s, the 20-year-old would get a call from father Ashok Kumar Rana. Usually a parent calling over a poor result would be to console their child. But the agriculturist does double duty by being a father and a coach despite not having any formal training. On Monday, Samrat Rana joined Abhinav Bindra and Rudrankksh Patil to become only the third Indian ever to win a Shooting World Championship gold medallist – a singular feat considering how informal the means of training is purported to be.
Rana Sr opened a shooting academy in Karnal to make his son train, a year after Samrat had begun training at a range in the city. On Tuesday evening, the Haryana shooter edged out this year’s four-time World Cup gold medallist Kai Hu of China in the final in Cairo, Egypt for his gold.
“In our family, we owned rifles and pistols due to us being landlords and I would often shoot in our land at our village Uplana setting targets on wooden boards. Since I was of the age ten, I only thought about shooting par hum toh bas gaon ke shooter hi ban ke reh gaye (But I would only remain a village level shooter). I made Samrat buy a new Air Pistol and made him train at an academy in Karnal before setting up my own academy at Karnal to train Samrat and his sisters Bhumika and Gaura. To see Samrat become the World Champion today feels like each one of us has become world champions,” said Rana while speaking to The Indian Express.
A home build range and passion
Back in 2018, Rana Sr enrolled Samrat at a shooting academy in Karnal, and bought his son a new Morini pistol worth more than Rs 1.5 lakh. With the father interested in making his son train in rapid fire pistol as well standard Pistol, a feat which could not be done as Samrat’s shooting licence was not made, the Haryana youngster would train at the family’s Karnal home. He then made it to the Indian junior team in 2020 before finishing ninth in the 10m air pistol in Junior World Championships in Cairo in 2022, where he along with Esha Singh won the mixed team gold.
Indian shooter Samrat Rana after winning the title in men’s 10m air pistol final in ISSF World Championships in Cairo. (ISSF)
“When I built the range at home, I got the electronic targets as well as pistols for my children. When Samrat was 14, he won a car in an open competition in Faridabad but even then, he took it as a leisure activity. But then with time, his passion grew. As a father and coach, there are times when the coach in me is strict with him but then I can also see what he needs. We worked on his grip as well as elbow position but I always believed it was a mental thing once a kid learns the basics. We would make him shoot 60-70 shots in a day and right from his junior days, I told him that whether it’s a junior or youth or senior event, always give your best and aim to be consistent,” said Rana Sr.
Edging out in-form Hu
Prior to Tuesday’s final, China’s Hu had won each of the World Cup titles this year. Rana stayed on top after the first two elimination series followed by Tomar grabbing the lead after the third elimination series. Rana then slipped to third with Tomar leading and Hu at the second spot. With him, Tomar, Hu and Korostylov left in contention, Rana stepped up his game with a 10.4 and 10.9 in the fifth elimination series to take the lead.
A 9.5 and a 10.9 in the sixth elimination series with Hu shooting a 10.8 and 9.9 saw Tomar bowing out with a bronze to his name.
Story continues below this ad
Hu then shot a 9.5 and Rana followed with a 10.2 to lead by 0.6 points before the last shot. A 10.8 by Hu meant that Rana needed 10.3 to win. He ended up nailing a 10.6 to win the gold. “When I shot the last shot, I didn’t know what Hu scored. But with the crowd cheering, I knew he hit an inner ten. I was in the process of shooting my shot and my focus was on my process and the 10.6 came,” Rana told The Indian Express.
For Tomar, who won a bronze medal, it was a long wait for a World Championship stripe. “I had won medals at the senior level in World Cups at Cairo as well as at the junior level. This bronze medal is a special feeling for me,” Tomar, who is cousin of Saurabh Chaudhary, told The Indian Express.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd