Suruchi Singh: Indian shooter Suruchi Singh reflected on the record-breaking performance to win the Asian Games gold medal with fellow shooter Kamaljeet in the 10m air pistol mixed team event on Friday.
Suruchi and Kamaljeet shot an Asian record score of 484.6 to win the second gold medal for India at the ongoing Aichi-Nagoya Games and give India their first pistol medal after the disappointment in the men's and women's 10m air pistol events.
"I think India needs a lot of gold, not just one and India will win them," she told IANS after winning the yellow metal. Facing a field with the likes of South Korea and Iran in action too, Suruchi said that she had only one thing in her mind and that was to win a gold for India.
"In my mind, I was thinking of giving my 100%; I was thinking of winning gold for India," she said.
Suruchi and Kamaljeet had topped the mixed team qualification event with an Asian record-equalling score in the qualification of 587-29x. They were three points clear of the next best Iran. Speaking on keeping calm going into the final of the event, Suruchi said that her parents helped her reset her mind. "After the qualification, they helped me a lot to perform well in this match," she said.
"In my mind, I was thinking of giving my 100%; I was thinking of winning gold for India," she said.
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Kamaljeet comes from a family of farmers from Haryana. He spoke on the financial struggles he faced in his journey. "The financial condition of my family was not good. So I had to look for a job. Only shooting would not have given bread to my family. I'm in the Indian Army now. I joined the Army before the Asian Games only," he said.