Rahi Sarnobat

Rahi Jeevan Sarnobat (Marathi: राही सरनोबत) is a female athlete from India who competes in the 25 metre pistol shooting event. She won her first gold medal at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India.[2] She is the first woman to win a gold medal in shooting at the Asian Games for India – she won the gold at the 2018 Jakarta Palembang Asian Games in the women's 25 metre pistol event.[3] She won two gold medals in 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, the first of the two golds in coming in the 25 metre pistol pair event with Anisa Sayyed. She had previously won gold in the 25 metre pistol event at the 2008 Youth Commonwealth Games, which were held in India.[4]

Rahi Sarnobat
Sarnobat in 2021
Personal information
Born (1990-10-30) 30 October 1990
Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India
Height5.1 ft (1.6 m) (2014)[1]
Weight75 kg (165 lb) (2014)[1]
Sport
Country India
Sport25 meter pistol
ClubChattrapati Shivaji Sports Complex, Pune
TeamIndia
Coached byMunkhbayar Dorjsuren
Now coachingBalewadi Shooting Range, Pune
Medal record
Women's shooting
ISSF World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2013 Changwon 25 meter pistol
Gold medal – first place 2019 Munich 25 meter pistol
Gold medal – first place 2021 Delhi Women's 25 m pistol team
Gold medal – first place 2021 Osijek 25 meter pistol
Silver medal – second place 2021 Delhi 25 meter pistol
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Fort Benning 25 meter pistol
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Osijek Women's 10 m pistol team
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2010 Delhi 25 m pistol pairs
Gold medal – first place 2014 Glasgow 25 meter pistol
Silver medal – second place 2010 Delhi 25 meter pistol
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2018 Jakarta Palembang Women's 25 m pistol
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Incheon Women's 25 m pistol team

Personal life and background

Sarnobat hails from Kolhapur in Maharashtra. During her school days, she was introduced to firearms as part of NCC training. She demonstrated natural skills in using firearms from an early age. In her early days of the sport, Sarnobat had to navigate inadequate infrastructure and facilities in her home town of Kolhapur. She then decided to train in Mumbai, which had better facilities.[5] Her inspiration is fellow Maharashtrian and 50m rifle pro World Champion Tejaswini Sawant.[3]

Professional achievements

Sarnobat became India's first pistol shooter to win a gold medal in the World Cup when she won the 25 metre pistol event in the ISSF World Cup in Changwon.[6][7] In the 2014 Commonwealth Games at Glasgow, she won gold in the women's 25 metre pistol event.[8] In the same year, she won the bronze medal in the 25 metre pistol team event at the 2014 Asian Games at Incheon, where she teamed up with Anisa Sayyed and Heena Sidhu.[9] An injury caused by an accident in 2015 came as a setback for Sarnobat; it affected her elbow, which took almost two years to fully heal.[10] She made it back to the Indian national team and started working with German coach Munkhbayar Dorjsuren, who helped Sarnobat gain physical fitness and mental strength.[11] Ironically Dorjsuren was one of Sarnobat's competitors at the 2012 Olympics.[12]

Her bronze medal in the 2011 World Cup event at Fort Benning led to her selection for the London Olympics in 2012, thereby becoming the first female Indian shooter to qualify for the 25 metre sports pistol event in the Olympics.[3]

In May 2015, Sarnobat was recommended for the country's prestigious Arjuna Award by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).[13]

On 22 August 2018, she became the first Indian woman to become an individual Asian Games gold medallist in shooting by winning the 25 metre pistol event with a Games record score of 34. She won the shoot-off against her Thai opponent to win the gold.[14]

In ISSF World Cup in Osijek, Sarnobat won the gold medal in the women's 25m pistol event.[15]

The 30-year-old fired a final score of 39 after qualifying second with a total of 591. Her stupendous performance in the final earned her the Tokyo's ticket.

[15] Sarnobat won the gold medal at the Munich World Cup event in 2019[16] and was selected for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[17]

References
  1. "Rahi Sarnobat". Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF]. Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  2. "Golden Girl - Rahi Sarnobat". TheSportsCampus.com. 26 October 2008. Archived from the original on 18 September 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  3. "Rahi Sarnobat becomes first Indian female shooter to win Asian Games gold". ESPN. 22 August 2018. Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  4. "Spotlights on Youth: Sarnobat's challenge is to make shooting more popular than cricket in India". ISSF. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  5. "राही सरनोबत: रिटायरमेंट के कगार से लौटकर ओलंपिक पदक की दावेदार बनने तक". BBC News हिंदी (in Hindi). Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  6. "Women shooters break into the male bastion". India Today. 7 October 2010. Archived from the original on 5 February 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  7. "Sarnobat wins gold in shooting WC". The Hindu. 5 April 2013. Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  8. "Pistol shooter Rahi Sarnobat wins gold, Anisa Sayyed silver". news.biharprabha.com. IANS. 26 July 2014. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  9. Mishra, Rashmi (22 September 2014). "Shooters Heena Sidhu, Rahi Sarnobat and Anisa Sayyed win 4th bronze for India in Asian Games 2014". Archived from the original on 15 September 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  10. "Rahi Sarnobat". Olympic Channel. Archived from the original on 24 March 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  11. "Rahi Sarnobat". Olympic Channel. Archived from the original on 24 March 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  12. "This shooting star Rahi Sarnobat has an Olympic dream". DNA India. 21 September 2019. Archived from the original on 14 April 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  13. "Jitu Rai, Rahi recommended for Arjuna Awards by NRAI". Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  14. Mishra, Rashmi (22 August 2018). "Rahi Sarnobat Wins Gold in 25 m Pistol Event, Manu Bows Out". The Quint. Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  15. "ISSF Shooting World Cup: Rahi Sarnobat wins gold medal in women's 25m pistol event". India Today. 28 June 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  16. "ISSF - International Shooting Sport Federation - issf-sports.org". www.issf-sports.org. Archived from the original on 23 September 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  17. "Shooter Rahi Sarnobat has set her target on more Olympics after Tokyo 2021". Hindustan Times. 24 April 2020. Archived from the original on 28 April 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
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