26-05-2025
Khyaty Chaudhary, Shambhavi Kshirsagar, Ojasvi Thakur form Indian air rifle shooting's terrific trio for the future
On Sunday, as 17-year-old Khyaty Chaudhary and Naraen Pranav were tied 14-14 against Chinese Huang Yuting and Huang Liwanlin at the Suhl Shooting Junior World Cup, two 16-year-olds were cheering the loudest from the stands. The Indians were up against a formidable Chinese pairing – Paris Olympics mixed team champion and individual silver medallist Yuting, alongwith junior world champion Liwanlin in the 10m air rifle mixed team gold medal match at the ISSF event in Germany.
Even though the Indian pair lost, this World Cup's individual champion Shambhavi Kshirsagar and silver medallist Ojasvi Thakur, who had edged out Yuting in the final on Saturday, rushed to hug Chaudhary.
'Pehle se hi discuss kia tha ki Chinese ko haraana hai hum teeno ne (all three of us had discussed prior that we have to beat the Chinese). When I won the gold yesterday and Ojasvi won the silver, Khyaty took a lot of confidence and it reflected in her shooting today. It was tough luck that the pair lost due to 0.5 difference in the last series par Chinese pasina toh bahaye honge (Chinese would have sweated a lot),' says Shambhavi, who would pair up with Himanshu to win the bronze medal in the mixed team event minutes earlier with a 17-9 win over the American pair of Griffin Lake and Elijah Spencer.
If reading archived newspaper articles about Beijing Olympics champion Abhinav Bindra at her school in Kolhapur made Shambhavi take interest in rifle shooting, it was as an option of leisure activity in her school in Mohali that made Thakur take up the sport in 2019. For Chaudhary, it was her father's interest in shooting that led the Bijnor resident into rifle shooting in 2017. For the last one week in Germany, the trio have been discussing everything from their exams to listening to Marathi songs of Shambhavi's choice at the team hotel. 'Each one of us acts as the other's strengths in the time away from shooting and also on the range prior to the match. Once on the lane, we are also fierce competitors not giving an inch to each other,' Chaudhary says.
Shambhavi and Ojasvi won the gold and silver with scores of 253.0 and 251.8 respectively in the women's final on Saturday in a final which saw Yuting, another Chinese 15-year-old Li Shijia, Paris Olympian Manon Herbulot and Carlotta Salafia among top contenders. Shambhavi, who shot 633.1 to be placed second after Thakur's score of 633.2 in the qualification, would shoot 16 scores of 10.5 and above including ten shots of 10.7 and above out of the 24 shots till the gold medal was decided.
Thakur would score 12 shots of 10.5 and above out of her 24 shots till the last elimination series and the duo would be discussing what Thakur will paint after the final and what Shambhavi would make her listen out of her choice of Marathi songs. 'Post the final, we also analyse our scores and also suggest to each other where the shot varied or what one could have done in some scenarios or different range conditions. Prior to the final or qualification too, we help each other in our preparations too if coaches are busy or we need some advice regarding some technical things,' says Thakur.
Shambhavi, whose father Shravan Kshirsagar is deputy collector (revenue) in Solapur, is quick to add, 'Ab meri dost and competitor hai on the lane toh Marathi songs toh sunane hi padenge. (Since these two are my close friends and competitors on the lane, hence they will have to listen to Marathi songs).' Laughs.
For the last year or two, the trio also have been training away from home. While Thakur and Chauhan have been spending time training under 2002 CWG champion and Olympian Suma Shirur at Lakshya Shooting Club in Mumbai, Shambhavi has been training under coach Dikshant Jadhav at SAI Centre in Delhi. Sunday's mixed team bronze was Shambhavi's third international medal with her first international medal coming last year in the form of the bronze medal in the Grenada Junior World Cup. 'When Shambhavi came to train under me, we had to work on her shooting posture. When she had started shooting in 2017, her weight was less and hence there were some things which we had to iron out. Before Saturday's final, I told her 'Asel ti Olympic winner. Tu tuzhya process var focus kar (She (Yuting) might be an Olympic champion but you focus on your process,' says national coach Jadhav.
Another national coach Veerpal Nijjhar sees the two Indians topping the qualification as also a motivating factor early in their career. 'Often one has the qualification pressure of making it to the final. With scores of 633.2 and 633.1, both Shambhavi and Ojasvi showed they just focused on their process and were not scared of the Chinese in the final too,' say Nijjhar.
Back in Mumbai. Shirur too was following proceedings. With four of the top five Indian rifle shooters in junior women's team being her trainees, Shirur is reminded of her time with compatriots Anjali Bhagwat, Deepali Deshpande and Anuja Jung who would train together at MRA and spend time off the range together. 'All of them, be it Ojasvi or Khyati or Shambhavi, have started very early unlike us. But then shooting can become a lonely sport sometimes. And to see these kids share things as well being highly competitive on the range, which we also did, is special. Each one of us me, Anjali, Deepali or Anuja would get motivated too on seeing the other win medals. Ojasvi, Khyati, along with Isha and Mayuri train together through the year and such camaraderie helps one in the long run,' says Shirur.
Meanwhile India topped the medal tally with three gold, four silver and four bronze. 20-year-old Tejaswani won the gold in women's 25m pistol final to hand India its fourth gold medal in this Junior World Cup. China finished with three gold and one bronze while Authorised Neutral Athlete contingent finished third with two gold, one silver and one bronze.
Nitin Sharma is an Assistant Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Based out of Chandigarh, Nitin works with the print sports desk while also breaking news stories for the online sports team. A Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award recipient for the year 2017 for his story 'Harmans of Moga', Nitin has also been a two-time recipient of the UNFPA-supported Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity for the years 2022 and 2023 respectively.
Nitin mainly covers Olympics sports disciplines with his main interests in shooting, boxing, wrestling, athletics and much more. The last 17 years with The Indian Express has seen him unearthing stories across India from as far as Andaman and Nicobar to the North East. Nitin also covers cricket apart from women's cricket with a keen interest. Nitin has covered events like the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2011 ODI World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup and the 2017 AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships.
An alumnus of School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, from where he completed his Masters in Mass Communications degree, Nitin has been an avid quizzer too. A Guru Nanak Dev University Colour holder, Nitin's interest in quizzing began in the town of Talwara Township, a small town near the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border. When not reporting, Nitin's interests lie in discovering new treks in the mountains or spending time near the river Beas at his hometown. ... Read More
