I dedicate my CWG medals to our jawans, says shooter Tejaswini

Shooter Tejaswini Sawant

Indian shooter Tejaswini Sawant, who bagged a gold and silver medal at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, got a celebratory welcome when she arrived from Australia here yesterday. Sawant, 37, shattered the Games record in women's 50m rifle 3 positions event and won the silver medal in the 50m rifle prone event.

Sawant hails from Kolhapur, but is married to a Pune-based social worker-cum-builder, Sameer Darekar. She landed at Pune airport and was received by her relatives and fans, who held the national flag. "Vande Mataram, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj ki jai, Bharat mata ki jai," the fans chanted. Sawant wore the Puneri Pagadi.

She and her husband then headed to Artificial Limb Centre where she spent time with Army jawans. "The credit for my CWG performance should go to my mother, guru, my husband and in-laws. I dedicate these two medals to our jawans fighting on the border.

"They are real inspirations for sportspeople like me to continue working hard and fight back from our difficulties," she told mid-day. When asked about her targets, she said: "Winning at the Olympics is my target, but I am taking it step by step. CWG was one of the hurdles that I have crossed. I've still to clear other trials to clinch an Olympic medal. I will work harder." She left for Kolhapur later in the evening.

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