Nagoya, Sep 20 (IANS) Vidarsa K. Vinod’s Asian Games debut was never simply a matter of being in the right place at the right time. After helping India win silver in the women’s 10m air rifle team event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, the Keralam shooter pushed back against suggestions that luck had carried her to the continental stage, pointing instead to eight years of work behind her first Games medal.

"The competition was really good. I cannot put the experience into words. This is amazing. Even before coming to the Asian Games, everybody was saying that this was luck that brought you. As a double starter, you can play as a double starter. But I can’t say that’s only luck, because behind this I have worked really hard for 8 years. So this is kind of my dream coming true,” Vidarsa told IANS after the team silver win.

The silver came in the women’s 10m air rifle team event, where Vidarsa joined Elavenil Valarivan and Sonam Maskar to deliver India’s first medal of the Games. It also made her the first female from Keralam to win a shooting medal at the Asian Games.

Yet the 27-year-old’s route to that podium has involved more than the final few shots in Nagoya. She has spent years navigating the international shooting circuit, competing at ISSF World Cups, World Championships and Asian Championships, while developing her speciality in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions event.

Her Asian Games debut inevitably brought its own pressure. Vidarsa, however, said she eventually stopped treating the occasion as something different from the competitions she had already experienced.

"Can’t say there was no pressure at all. I was under some pressure at the beginning. Then I realised that all the competition is the same, similar: the timing, everything, and the shots. Everything is the same. So I don’t have to think about it. So I started focusing on my preparation and the way I shoot. So then it was good," she said.

That focus has come at a cost outside the range. Vidarsa completed her graduation but could not continue with her planned postgraduate studies because of the demands of an increasingly packed shooting calendar.

“I have completed graduation, and now I am just fully focused on shooting,” she said

She added, “I had planned to pursue postgraduate studies, but I couldn’t complete them because of the competition. We have four World Cups, the Asian Championship, and the Asian Games. We also have domestic competitions, such as selection trials. Because of that, I wasn’t able to attend classes and therefore couldn’t complete my postgraduate studies. I just completed my graduation.”

Her support system has travelled with her through that journey. Her husband is with her in Japan, while her family continues to support her from India, and coach Manoj Kumar is alongside her in Nagoya.

“Yeah, my husband is here. He is here to support me. Everybody in my family is in India, but I have their blessings. My coach, Manoj Kumar Sir, is also here. So everybody is with me,” Vidarsa stated.

The journey was particularly challenging at the beginning, when Vidarsa said she had little guidance on how to progress within competitive shooting.

“Yeah, it was actually tough because there was nobody to guide me at the beginning. So how to get into the team, how to get a good coach, or something. There was nobody to guide me at the beginning. Then I met my husband. From that moment to this, he has been the one making all the decisions,” she stated.

Now training in Delhi under Manoj Kumar, Vidarsa has established herself as a regular member of India’s rifle squad. Earlier this year, she topped the 50m Rifle 3 Positions qualification at the 2026 Asian Rifle/Pistol Championship in New Delhi with 590-35x.

The team silver has given her Asian Games campaign a memorable start, but her specialist event remains. Vidarsa will return to competition on September 26 for the women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions event.

“Yeah, my next event is on the 26th. That’s the 3-position rifle event.”

--IANS

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