ISSF World Cup: Champion Chandela

Apurvi credits 10m air rifle record gold medal-winning feat to fierce competition from fellow Indians Anjum, Elavenil and Mehuli

World Cup gold medallist Apurvi Chandela on Saturday called the fierce competition in the Indian women's air rifle team a good thing as it motivates her to go the extra mile, be in terms of "meditation" or "visualisation practises".

India's Chandela shattered the world record on her way to the women's 10m air rifle gold with an incredible sequence of scores in the ISSF World Cup here.
"All of them coming up is actually good for the sport. I needed to push myself further and I have been performing consistently since the last year," Apurvi said about the intense competition from Anjum Moudgil, Elavenil Valarivan and Mehuli Ghosh in this event.

Motivational factor
"I looked at it in a way that I get motivated, push myself harder, I can't settle down at any score, there is no satisfaction that I think can take from it. That's actually a good thing for me. It keeps me motivated."

Asked about the 2018 World Cup final in Munich, where she had the gold in her grasp before an inexplicable slip-up in the 19th shot pushed her outside the medal bracket, Chandela 26, said she has overcome that disappointment.

"In Munich World Cup, I was leading and I came fourth. I was just coming down and it was a freak shot, the trigger just got pressed, it wasn't a malfunction or anything.

Meditation works
"But I am happy that I could overcome that and did not let that get into my way today. I actually beat my own self in a way," she said about the outing in which a 5.9 dashed her hopes. To improve trigger control, Apurvi said she does a "lot of meditation and visualisation practises".

"It's a long process which I have been working on. It was just pressure handling. To get better, I had to push myself. Earlier, I used to take less time and shoot early, but now I take a little longer to settle down a bit."

About the last few shots in Saturday's final, she said, "I was just trying to control my nerves; nerves do play a big role. I just asked myself to stay calm as it was a matter of few more shots." Her mother, Bindu, a former basketball player who represented Rajasthan in the Nationals, travels with her for training as well as competitions, including abroad.

Mum's support
"Being a sportsperson myself, I understand the situation better when I am around her. You know I never have high expectations and all," her mother said. "She is usually there even abroad," Apurvi said. The surprising but loud cheers from behind helped in the final, as she rallied to grab the second place with a 10.6 in the 11th shot. Rifle or pistol shooting events at the Dr Karni Singh Range never attracted such a turnout.

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