Who is Rahi Sarnobat? TheSportsRush takes a look at India’s first individual shooting gold medallist among women at the Asian Games.
Rahi Sarnobat created history at the Asian Games 2018, when she became the first Indian woman to win an individual gold in shooting in the Games’ history. In an intense shoot-off for the gold medal against Thailand’s Naphaswan Yangpaiboon, Sarnobat won the battle of nerves in one of the most exciting finishes to a shooting event.
This was India’s fourth gold medal, as the shooter takes India’s overall medal tally to 11. Sarnobat won a bronze medal at the Asian Games 2014 in the 25m air pistol event, and has been a ISSF World Cup gold medallist in 2013.
Here are some interesting facts about first women individual gold medallist at the Asian Games’ shooting event:
First win since her comeback
Rahi Sarnobat has had a difficult time recovering from an elbow injury last year. She participated in two World Cups this year, and narrowly missed a bronze medal in one, finishing fourth.
Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist
She won an individual gold medal in the Commonwealth Games in 2014 in the 25m air pistol event. In the 2010 edition held in Delhi, Sarnobat won two god medals, including one in a pair event, partnering with Anisa Sayyed.
Also read: A look at India’s 16-year old gold medallist, Saurabh Chaudhary
Inspired from Tejaswini Sawant
Sarnobat took up shooting as a career after closely following India’s 50m rifle prone champion, Tejaswini Sawant. Sawant won two gold medals in 10m air rifle events at CWG 2006, and replicated her success in a different category (50m air rifle prone) at the World Championships 2010 in Munich. Recently, Sawant also won a gold medal at 50m rifle 3 position event at the Commonwealth Games in 2018.
Like Tejaswini Sawant, Sarnobat also hails from Maharashtra.
With Rahi Sarnobat’s gold medal, India now climbs up to 6th in the Asian Games medal tally.
