Asian Games: Himanshu recalls turning point after winning silver in 10m air rifle

New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS) Himanshu Dhillon revealed how a single shot changed the colour of his medal as the Indian shooter fought back from third place to claim silver in the men’s 10m air rifle event at the Asian Games.

Making his senior Asian Games debut, Dhillon found himself in the bronze-medal position during a tightly contested final. Rather than worrying about the standings, he decided to focus entirely on producing his best possible shot, a mental shift that eventually propelled him into silver-medal position.

“At that time, when the fourth-place shootout was done, our medals were decided, and I was in third place. At that time, I thought I should give my 101% and give my best shot. Whatever happens, it doesn’t matter. I had to give my 100% to that shot because that shot could have changed the colour of my medal. And that happened, and the colour of my medal changed as I jumped to second place and fought for gold,” Himanshu replied to an IANS query during a virtual press conference.

The pressure did not disappear with that shot. Dhillon admitted feeling anxious before the next one, but said his coach helped bring his attention back to the process rather than the outcome.

“In the next shot, which was to decide the bronze medal, I was a little anxious that it might go from one side to the other. My coach told me the process, and I had to fully focus on that shot. I shot that and luckily, it was a colour-changing moment for my medal, and I jumped to silver.”

Dhillon said he did not enter the moment with a specific plan to chase silver or avoid dropping to bronze. Instead, once he picked up his rifle, his focus narrowed to executing the process.

“At that time, I didn’t have any plan to give my best shot. I knew I was not supposed to make a mistake because that would have landed me with a bronze medal. But when I picked up the rifle, at that time, I was only focused on the process and thought, ‘Whatever happens, it doesn’t matter.’”

The silver was particularly significant for Dhillon as it marked his first senior medal. After the competition, he also spoke about the family connection behind his achievement, revealing that his father was deeply emotional after learning about the result.

“I haven’t spoken to him much. He is being very emotional. My uncle was an Olympian. He saw his journey. It was his dream that I would bring an Olympic gold and an Asian gold medal. Today, I have fulfilled my father and my family’s dream to an extent.”

Dhillon said his mother told him that his father had been emotional when he heard about the medal and that his family had wanted to be present at the venue.

“He was very emotional at that time. I was not there, but my mother told me that he was very emotional when he heard about the medal. She told me that they wanted to be there. She could not call me at that time.”

–IANS

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