Sensational Palak Gulia sets new benchmark for young guns in Indian shooting at 17 as she wins 10m air pistol gold at Asian Games

17-year-old Palak Gulia marked her first Asian Games appearance with an incredible record-breaking score of 242.1.

Sensational Palak Gulia sets new benchmark for young guns in Indian shooting at 17 as she wins 10m air pistol gold at Asian Games

Palak Gulia (Via Open Source/X)

These trigger-happy Indian teenagers could well give a scare to even the Wild West stars of yesteryears one saw in movies. Ok, this was not an ammo bore that could kill a human, nor was it loud. Yet, the bang which Palak Gulia and Esha Singh created in air pistol at the Asian Games in Hangzhou was simply superb.

Sample this, unsung, unheard and unheralded Palak, just 17, was squeezing the trigger with poise. It fetched her individual gold. Her senior partner, just by a year, Esha Singh won silver, after making a meal of it two days ago in the 25m sports pistol gold.

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The morning was calm at the shooting ranges before the 10-metre indoor hall witnessed some brilliant shooting from Palak, Esha and Kishmala Talat to win team gold.

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By all standards, this whopping medal hunt by the Indians in the shooting ranges has been the talk of the town, collecting 17 medals so far. It resembles the good times Indian shooting had at the Doha Asian Games in 2006 when Jaspal Rana almost walked with the MVP (most valuable player) award.

Back to Palak, if she was taking time to let the emotions sink in, the celebrations had begun in Haryana. Far from the madding crowd and hustle and bustle of the city, Palak hails from Jhajjar, around 51km from Delhi. In Jhajjar, the rustic Haryanvis had begun celebrations, distributing sweets. This is the joy that a medal brings, more so in a state where female infanticide is so high.

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Palak Gulia still poised after her historic triumph at Asian Games

One has seen, literally, how the betis (daughters) of Haryana have shone for Indian sport. Palak joins that league, even though she was an unknown person till this morning. The beauty of the teen sensations in Indian shooting is they are not jealous of each other. Team spirit matters and it showed.

Yet, in the final, there was suspense of sorts. Would the two Indians handle the pressure? It’s hard to bust the field in a host country where its own athletes are in such ruthless form. Well, Palak and Esha showed they could handle anything and everything with poise throughout the day.

Palak Gulia (Via Open Source)

“I am dedicating this medal to my parents, the coaches and the NRAI,” said Palak later. She was laughing, smiling, after the medal ceremony. When the national anthem was played, there were moist eyes.

Asked if it had sunk in, Palak was jovial. “Now that you have asked the question, to beat the Chinese at home is big,” she said.

Elaborating on a long day from morning where she first shot in the team event and then the final, Palak was composed. “We train and prepare for these things, to win medals for the country is big. Honestly, shooting the team event and the individual final are very different. It’s nice we are doing well and winning medals for the country,” added Palak.

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