For Azerbaijan World Cup in Aug, Panchkula shooter going great guns, trains in Delhi

In the recent past, Deswal improved her score in the women’s 10 M Pistol event and claimed the junior title in the National Championships held in Pune in January earlier this year with a new junior national record of 384. Last month, she led the Indian junior team to a bronze medal in the Junior World Cup held in Suhl, Germany, and she made it to the Indian senior squad for the ISSF World Cup to be held in Gabala, Azerbaijan, next month. It will be her first senior international team appearance.

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Deswal, who trains under coach T S Dhillon, started the sport in 2011 and won her first medal at the national level in the form of a bronze medal in the Sajjan Singh Memorial Shooting Championship in 2012. She was among the two Indian shooters who qualified for the Youth Olympics held in China last year and followed that with a record-breaking performance in the 58th National Shooting Championship held in Pune in January this year. She set a new junior national record with a score of 384 in Pune. She achieved her career-high score of 386 in individual women’s 10 m Air Pistol event in the 25th Shooting Hopes Memorial Championship held in Plezen, Czech Republic, in June to claim the gold medal.

“Making the junior national record in Pune boosted my confidence ahead of the international tournaments. Playing in Europe is always tough and competing against shooters who have practised in the known conditions is a challenge. The gold in Czech Republic prepared me well for the Junior World Cup. We won the team event bronze medal in Germany and I learnt to take the final shot-by-shot to improve my scores further. I have been training with my coach Dhillon sir for the last two weeks. Adjusting to Azerbaijan conditions will be the key for me,” said Deswal, who is a student of BA-I (Economics Honours) at DAV College, Sector 10.

Coach Dhillon is confident of a fine-tuned performance by the shooter. “The senior World Cup brings a lot of responsibility in her game, and her biggest strength has been her commitment and determination. Her consistent scores have seen her rise to the second in the rankings. With Asian Air Gun Championships and Asian Championships to be held later this year, consistency will help her game,” said Dhillon, who will also be going to the ISSF World Cup as a judge.