After the golden effort, 19-year-old Devanshi, in an exclusive interview with MyNation, shared her experience of winning and how she was inspired by her father, who won gold at Asian Games in 1994 (one) and 2006 (three)
Devanshi Rana did her father Jaspal Rana proud with pistol gold in the ongoing Khelo India Youth Games at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi on Sunday.
In the absence of her friend and 19-year-old shooting sensation Manu Bhaker, Devanshi won a dramatic final with a calm and composed performance, beating Anjali Choudhary by one point for the women’s Under-21 25-metre pistol gold.
After the golden effort, 19-year-old Devanshi, in an exclusive interview with MyNation, shared her experience of winning and how she was inspired by her father, who won gold at the Asian Games in 1994 (one) and 2006 (three).
“As a child, I have been surrounded by guns and ammunition. It bred into me, it was in my blood as well and seeing your entire family in this arena, it just grew into me. It was quite an inspiration to watch my father on TV and seeing him win the medals,” Devanshi said on what inspired her to become a shooter.
She also mentioned how Khelo India is one of the first competitions in the domestic region in which so many sports have come together in such an organised manner. “It's like Asian Games for India,” she added.
The gold medallist said that shooting started as a hobby for her and she didn't know where to take it up in future.
On how his father coaches her, she said, “Of course he trains me but he's not the sitting-on-my-head kind of coach. He lets me float on my own but if there's any obstacle he helps me overcome it.”
Devanshi also said that she never felt any pressure belonging from such a reputed family of shooters.
“He is him and I'm me. He has come with his destiny and so have I. Only thing is we share the same blood.”
Devanshi is all set to prepare for the next Olympics, and shared how she relieves herself of stress before any competition.
“I shut myself out. I shut my eyes off for 15 to 20 minutes before the match and I don't make eye contact with anyone,” she said.
A student of Lady Shriram College in Delhi, Devanshi urged youngsters to follow their passion and succeed in sport.
“If it's your passion, no one can stop you from achieving it and you have to know what you want to do and where you want to go in life,” she said.
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