Was blessed with baby girl a fortnight back, had little practice before Worlds: Shooter Ravinder

Cairo on Saturday, had spent nearly a fortnight away from the shooting range as he had been blessed with a baby girl after more than seven years of marriage.

With little training and hardly any time to mentally prepare for the Worlds, he left for Cairo with just ''himmat'' and a belief in the process.

On Saturday, the 29-year-old army man made his dream of winning the World Championships gold come true in style by notching up a brilliant 569 in the non-Olympic event.

''We were blessed with a baby girl just 15 days back on Diwali. I did not even practice all these days as I spent most of the time in hospital. I could barely manage 4-5 days' training after which we flew to Cairo for the World Championships,'' Ravinder told PTI from the Egyptian capital.

The shooter, who hails from Bishnah town in Jammu & Kashmir and joined the JK Rifle Centre in 2014 as a teenager, said the only thing that took him to the podium was confidence in his abilities and belief in the process he has been following for the last 6-7 years.

''We were blessed with a child after more than seven years of marriage. She has brought me luck. Today before the competition, I prayed to God to give me some 'himmat' (confidence). I didn't lose confidence in my process. The Almighty blessed me and I won the individual gold and team silver.

''During the 2023 World Championships in Baku, despite the best effort, I could only manage an individual and a team bronze. It was very disappointing as I missed gold by only two points. But, today, I was destined to win gold,'' said Ravinder, who had no knowledge of shooting before he joined the Army.

Coming from a small town, he was asked to try his luck in the 'Young Blood' competition organised by the Army. He did well and made it to the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) in Mhow where he met coach, Naib Subedar Manoj Kumar who groomed him.

''I would credit my success to my coach Manoj Kumar. It was my dream to see the Tricolour go up... I wanted to do my country proud. I missed the National Anthem in Baku but today was my day,'' he said.

''Main yahi kahoonga ki hamare ghar Laxmi aayi hai (Our household has been blessed by Goddess Laxmi) and that's why we've named our daughter Rashmita, which means 'Chamakta hua sitara' (shining star). I can proudly go home and show this medal to my parents.'' India's High Performance Coach for pistol, Jaspal Rana said Ravinder's score was ''outstanding''.

''He remained calm and composed. I am really happy for him. Outstanding score,'' said the legendary shooter, who had guided Manu Bhaker to two bronze medals at the Paris Olympics.