Shooting mom Heena Sidhu missing spark

Tribune News Service

Vinayak Padmadeo

Gandhinagar, October 2

Heena Sidhu cut a sorry figure after the women’s 10-metre air pistol qualification. She had just finished 15th with 560 points. The angst was justified and, hours later, the two-time Olympian was still seething.

I stayed away for a reason. Now I think I have become old. My mind knows what is required of me. My body is still trying to adjust to handle pressure. They say things get worse before they get better. Hope this is one of those phases. Heena Sidhu

“This is not how I want to be remembered. I am not like others who have to shoot because of their jobs. If my scores continue to be like these, I’d have to think things over,” Heena said.

A new mother, Heena took time away from the sport and is now slowly trying to get her mojo back on the range. “It has not been easy. We were getting the civic work done in our new house when I was pregnant with Reya. Now we are settling in and she has a fixed routine and sleep pattern,” she says.

Reya was born in November last year and Heena started to train again in January. However, she has not been able to fully adjust to life on the shooting range.

“I stayed away for a reason. Now I think I have become old. My mind knows what is required of me. My body is still trying to adjust to handle pressure. They say things get worse before they get better. Hope this is one of those phases,” she said.

Talking about her frustrations, Heena, who ranked world No. 1 in 2014, said: “I was shooting 574/575 normally. I’m frustrated with how I shot today. It was as if I was not in control.”

There’s another reason. “I am also cross with the selection policy now. Ideally, I would have taken more time to come back. Now I have to get ready for the National Championships and if I do not take part, I’d be out for six months or so. The whole year will be a miss. There is no flexibility given to the shooters at all. People will say Heena’s rant is sour grapes — to each their own,” she added.

No plans to retire

As much as she is upset with how things panned out at the range today, the Ludhiana-born 33-year-old is not ready to retire yet. “The day I think I am not giving the sport my 100 per cent, I will leave. I do not want to shoot like this. I have worked very hard to make my opponents fear me,” she said. “I will never make a mockery of myself. I have had a nice career and I have nothing to prove to anyone,” she added.

Ganemat, Vijayveer, Cheema get gold

Amrinder Singh Cheema and Ganemat Sekhon helped Punjab sweep the skeet gold medals while pistol shooter Vijayveer Sidhu added another gold to the state’s medal tally today. Ganemat, who won an ISSF silver medal in 2021, beat Telangana’s Rashmee Rathore 31 to 25 in the women’s skeet final for gold. Madhya Pradesh’s Vanshika Tiwari finished third with 17 hits. The men’s skeet gold was won by Cheema while Kuldeep Sanyasi of Services ended up with silver. In the men’s 10-metre air pistol, Vijayveer outclassed Haryana’s Shiva Narwal 17-5 to win gold. In the women’s 10-metre air pistol, Uttar Pradesh’s Yuvika Tomar created a flutter when she upset Haryana’s Rhythm Sangwan to win gold. Yuvika outscored Rhythm 16-6 while Karnataka’s Divya TS won bronze. In the men’s 50m 3 Positions, Niraj Kumar of the Services beat MP’s Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar 17-11 in a tense final.

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