37th National Games: Enjoying the vibe as this was my first trip to Goa, says shooter Anjum Moudgil after winning gold

Panaji (Goa): Hours after bagging a gold in the women’s 50m Rifle 3-Position event at the ongoing 37th National Games in Goa, two-time world championships medallist Anjum Moudgil preferred to spend the rest of the day, strolling across some of the popular beaches around the coastal state.

The Punjab shooter pipped her state-maté Sift Kaur Samra for the top spot on the podium with a total of 458.9 against Samra’s 458.2. Madhya Pradesh’s Ashi Chouksey finished with the bronze medal with a cumulative total of 445.5.

“This was my first trip to Goa, I’m enjoying the vibe out here. It felt good to win the gold medal earlier in the day, and thought of spending the last few hours visiting the popular hangouts out here before flying back to Chandigarh tomorrow,” said the ace shooter.

Having competed in Goa for the first time, Anjum said she was satisfied with the conditions and the infrastructure here. The shooting competitions of the 37th National Games are held at the Mandrem Shooting Range, about 40 km from Panaji.

“The range is a decent one, I was competing here for the first time. It’s a well-equipped range and the shooters are happy with the facilities available at the range,” she said.

After finishing her National Games assignment with a gold, the 29-year-old will head back to Chandigarh for the Diwali holidays but won’t have much time to unwind as she has to prepare for the National Shooting Championships, starting on November 24 at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range in Faridabad.

“The next target is to do well at the senior nationals and take forward the momentum from the National Games gold medal win. It will be a few days break for Diwali but have to keep preparing for the national championships,” she said.

The Chandigarh-born shooter, who missed a 2024 Paris Olympic quota by a whisker, is hopeful of boarding the flight to the French capital by giving her best in the selection trials ahead of the quadrennial showpiece event next year.

For India, the 15-year-old Tilottama Sen and Mehuli Ghosh have already won the quotas for the 2024 Paris Olympics in the women’s 10m Air Rifle event, while Odisha’s Shriyanka Sadangi and Sift Kaur Samra booked the quotas in the 50m women’s Rifle 3P event.

However, as the quotas are earned for the country, the National Olympic Committee has the exclusive authority to select who will represent it at the Olympic Games. The squad will be picked based on selection trials and all good performances in the lead-up to the Olympics will boost a shooter’s confidence ahead of the trials for Paris 2024.

“I missed the Paris qualification by a narrow 0.1. The quotas have already been won, so the target is to keep the momentum in whatever tournaments I take part in, before the selection trials for the Games. The squad could come out somewhere in June,” Anjum said.

–IANS