Tiyana Phogat handled the climax with remarkable calm as she beat Junior World Cup gold medallist Palak Ghulia 16-6 for the air pistol gold in the Khelo India Youth Games at the Dr. Karni Singh Range on Tuesday.
With another international shooter Shikha Narwal bagging the bronze, it was celebration time for host Haryana, especially for coach Rakesh Thakur who has been training all the three at his academy.
After qualifying in the seventh place with a modest 565, as against Palak’s top effort of 576, Tiyana was consistent right through the second stage and the gold medal match.
‘’I didn’t expect the gold. It was my first final. I wanted to perform my best. Was not thinking about the result’’, said Tiyana, a 10th standard student of DAV School in Gurugram.
Tiyana gave credit to her parents and coach for her strong foundation in shooting.
Coach Rakesh Thakur felt that Tiyana had found the rhythm and was aligned nicely to shoot her best.
‘’The confidence and rhythm Tiyana had in the final, carried her through the gold match’’, observed the coach.
Palak had recovered from the fifth place and the enormous deficit to jump to the second spot and qualify for the gold contest 0.4 points behind Tiyana, but could not get to her best shooting in the end.
There was one jarring note for Haryana as another accomplished international shooter,, Rhythm Sangwan had shot 564 and missed the final by one point. Yet, Haryana had enough fire power to sweep the medals.
The results: Youth women’s air pistol: 1. Tiyana Phogat 16 (247.5) 565; 2. Palak Ghulia 6 (247.1) 576; 3. Shikha Narwal 245.5 (573).
