Level playing field!

India’s Rajeshwari Kumari (left), Manisha Keer and Preeti Rajak (right) celebrate their silver medal finish in women’s team trap shooting at Hangzhou yesterday. Pic/AP;PTI

In the world of sport, everyone is equal. There is no discrimination. This was evident when India's women's trap team, comprising three athletes from different economic stratas of society, stood shoulder-to-shoulder atop the victory podium at the Fuyang Yinshi Sports Centre.

Madhya Pradesh's Manisha Keer, 24, the daughter of a fisherman, comes from the most humble of backgrounds, having helped her father catch and sell fish in Bhopal markets. MP's Preeti Rajak, 20, belongs to India's burgeoning middle-class with her father running a dry-cleaning shop in Itarsi. And last, but by no means least, is Rajeshwari Kumari, 31, who hails from Patiala's royal family and is the daughter of Olympic Council of Asia's Acting President Raja Randhir Singh.

China set new world record

Together, the trio shot a score of 337 to finish second, behind gold medallists China, who shot a new world record score of 357.

Also Read: Asian Games 2023: Yarraji's 100m hurdles bronze upgraded to silver after protest

For Keer, belonging to a very poor family meant that she was always on the lookout for a better life. One day in 2013, on learning that the MP Sports Academy was taking promising sportspersons under their wings, she visited the shooting academy.

There was a shooting trial going on and former India shooter Mansher Singh asked her to try her hand. Without even knowing how to hold a gun, she shockingly aced the targets and was immediately invited by the authorities to take up the sport professionally.

Interestingly, she mastered the art of staying calm, a prerequisite for a good shooter, from her fisherman father, who taught her how to be calm and quiet while fishing.

In Rajak's case, her father has always been busy at their dry-cleaning shop, so mum Jyotsna, a social worker, has been her constant companion. And it is she who introduced her daughter to shooting at the academy in Bhopal.

For Rajeshwari, shooting has been in her blood. Dad Randhir represented India in trap shooting at five consecutive editions of the Olympics between 1968 and 1984, and won a gold medal at the 1978 Bangkok Asian Games.

With a silver medal around her neck, a smiling Keer said that she was a tad disappointed with her shooting, but was happy to see Team India succeed: "Personally, I'm a little disappointed because I made too many mistakes. But this [shooting range] offers a nice view and it has been great to shoot here with these beautiful mountains in the background."

Malfunction for Rajak

Rajak rued a malfunction in Round 4. "In the fourth round, I pulled for the first shot, but couldn't pull the second [due to a malfunction]. The referee said ‘miss' so it was a bad round. But I made a recovery in the last round and I'm very happy to win a medal at my first Asian Games," she said.

Rajeshwari, meanwhile, was proud to receive the medal at the hands of her father, who was guest of honour at the medal ceremony. "My father has always supported me and it's so exciting to get this medal from him," she said.

Randhir however, had a bone to pick with his girl. "Unfortunately, I could not watch her shoot today because initially she told me not to come as it would make her nervous. Later, she suddenly asked me to come, but being OCA chief, protocol demands that I give six-hour notice before heading out. So, since there was not enough time for this, I could not come to watch her shoot. But all the three girls are medallists for India and have made us proud and that's what matters most," he said.