Sarnobat eyes Tokyo 2020 medal after Asian Games gold

MUMBAI: A rare feat recently achieved, Asian Games gold medal winning shooter Rahi Sarnobat has now trained her eyes on scripting another history — a medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Sarnobat, 27, entered the record books when she became the first Indian woman shooter to win a gold medal at the Asian Games. She achieved the feat by bagging the yellow metal in 25m air pistol event in Jakarta.

“An Olympic medal is the only thing which is left to achieve. So now the next (target) will be the (2020) Olympics,” she told PTI. “I went to Olympic Games before but those are past now. Now it should be a podium finish (in Tokyo),” she added.

No Indian female shooter has managed to win an Olympic medal so far in the history of the Games. Sarnobat said to fulfil her Olympic dream, she now needs to give more focus on mental and physical training.

“There are many things that I have to improve. Olympics is not easy. There pressure is completely different. You need to be psychologically and physically strong. Technically Indian shooters are now in very good shape. So now we have to focus more on mental and physical training,” said Sarnobat, who hails from Kolhapur district.

“2020 (Olympics) is quite far and its a big vision. But we have five Olympic qualification competitions and all are important as the competition will be tough and all shooters will try to qualify for the Games,” she said. “These competitions will define where we are and what we can do or what we have to improve. It’s a journey, and we have to see where we are before the Olympics,” Sarnobat explained.

She dedicated her Asiad gold to her new coach Munkhbayar Dorjsuren. “I will dedicate this (medal) more to my new coach because she worked differently with me. She (Dorjsuren) is a champion, an Olympic medallist. She has that attitude which helps me to think that I can (do it).”