Sift flanked by coaches Satguru Das, left, and Manoj Kumar.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Sift Kaur Samra is viewed as a potential World champion. The 23-year-old Sift is the Asian Games gold medallist in women’s rifle 3-position event, world record holder and won two gold medals in the recent Asian championship in Shymkent, Kazakhstan.
For all her achievements and potential, the bubbly Sift keeps things simple and stays grounded by sporting a healthy attitude.
“I really enjoyed winning the two gold medals. Winning the team medal with Ashi Chouksey and Anjum Moudgil was a great experience. I just loved it,” said Sift in an interaction with The Hindu.
“The competition was good. It was quite windy during qualification,” said Sift, who incidentally top-scored with 589 out of 600.
She was quite modest about winning the gold, 0.4 point ahead of China’s Yang Yujie in the 45-shot final.
“Actually, the Chinese gave me a chance as she shot 8.7 after I had shot 9.4,” recalled Sift whose 9.6 penultimate shot fetched her the lead in a gripping climax.
“The score was not that great, but it was good to get the gold,” said Sift, whose world record 469.6 stands more than 10 points better than her effort in Shymkent.
With loads of experience on the international circuit, Sift knows the importance to shoot at one’s best and stay with the flow of the competition, rather than worry about scores.
She was particularly pleased with the expertise the national federation showed in handling a massive contingent of more than 250 shooters, coaches and officials.
“We trained, shot in the match and took rest. It was very hot there. For the physios and psychologists, it was a big task dealing with all the shooters,” said Sift.
She was happy to see the young bunch of 3-position shooters Anushka Thokur, Mahit Sandhu and Prachi Gaikwad shooting strong.
“The juniors are doing very well. Anushka played the final so well to get the junior gold,” said Sift.
She said that the youngster need to be relaxed during the final when they shoot in the Junior World Cup in New Delhi.
Reluctantly accepting the fact that she would not be competing in the World Cup in China, Sift said that she would prepare her best for the World Championship in Cairo, at another “very windy range”.
“Every time, I start training from zero. My idea is not to be overconfident, thinking about what I have done in the previous matches. I will train as much as possible to shoot my best,” she added.
Published – September 04, 2025 08:23 pm IST