Chandigarh's Anjum Moudgil is World No 2 in women’s 10m air rifle

CHANDIGARH: Shooting prodigy from Chandigarh Anjum Moudgil is the new World No 2 in women’s 10m air rifle event. Apurvi Chandela from Jaipur is the new World No 1 in the same event, according to the latest International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) rankings released on Wednesday.
An ecstatic Anjum told TOI, “It is an amazing feeling. It is really good to see the names of two Indians on top of the table in this event. It is a big milestone in my shooting career but I think the real work has just started.”
Asked if there was any rivalry between her and Apurvi, she laughed and said: “No, no. There is no such rivalry among us. We train together, we travel together, I think it is healthy competition between us.”
In the last couple of years, the 10m air rifle event has become one of the strongest events for India and was the first discipline to clinch both the quota places on offer for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the very first qualification event when Anjum and Apurvi finished second and fourth, respectively at the 2018 World Championship in Changwon, South Korea.
Since the start of 2017, India has held the world record for both the senior (Anjum and Apurvi) and junior individuals (Elavenil Valarivan and Mehuli Ghosh) as well as the junior team.
When asked what makes this event so competitive in India, the UT shooter replied, “There is no doubt that It is the most competitive event. Even our juniors have such high scores and the top shooters are consistently giving 626 or 628 plus scores in international competitions. The youngsters just keep pushing the scores and I feel like I have to do more every time.”
“When I started shooting, I use to borrow rifles for the competition. It took me four-five years to buy my own rifle. But in the last three years, shooting overall in India has changed. There is world class infrastructure in India in shooting. This is one of the reason why so many teenagers are doing well in shooting,” she added.
The 25-year-old shooter had a breakthrough 2018 season and made her own space in galaxy of Indian shooting stars. She will now travel to Berlin on May 12 to attend a 10 day camp, before the ISSF World Cup in Munich starts on May 24.
When asked about her goals, the shooter replied, “I set a very short-term goals not based on competitions or medals. And trust me, when I started shooting, I had no clue about Olympics. I just knew Abhinav Bindra has won gold and he is from my city.”
“If you will ask me about my Olympic dreams, I won’t lie that I want to win a medal but everyone else is also practicing for the same thing. So for now, my only aim is keep this consistency. I need to work hard, prepare more and let’s see what happens next,” she signed off.
Roll of honour
Gold in 10m air rifle mixed team event at the ISSF World Cup in Beijing, China in 2019
Silver in 50m rifle 3 positions at the ISSF World Cup in Mexico in 2018
Silver in 50m rifle 3 positions at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018
Silver at the 10m air rifle at ISSF Shooting World Championships in Changwon, which also sealed an Olympic quota
Four golds at the shooting nationals in Thiruvananthapuram in 2018
Four golds at the 12th All-India Police Shooting Sports Championship in Thiruvananthapuram in March 2019