Samrat Rana interview: ‘I didn’t know previously winning the title here makes one world champion’

Samrat Rana: The feeling is surreal. I didn’t know previously that winning the title here makes one a world champion. I had come here to gain experience in my first senior competition and had not thought about winning a medal. I wanted to focus on my technique and have trust in myself.

Q. Your father built a range at home within a year of you starting as a shooter. He also talked about making you shoot at odd hours and being a strict coach. Can you talk to us about that?

Samrat Rana: I don’t even remember when I shot my first shot. I guess I may have been 5-6 when I shot with a small air gun in our fields. I would watch my father practise shooting with wooden targets at our fields in village Uplana and later when he got me enrolled at an academy, I knew that I loved shooting. To see him build the range for me and search for all the equipment motivated me to give my all to shooting. As a coach, my father was strict and determined. He would make me shoot after waking me up at midnight or after a hectic run. I wasn’t on social media and didn’t have many friends. All my time was spent on improving my shooting.

Q. In Cairo, you topped the qualification and took an early lead in the final. Can you talk to us about that?

Samrat Rana: Scores were a bit high, at 583-585, when I started shooting in the qualification round. I just tried to follow my process and technique and shoot a good score. I was a little nervous before the final but we had been practising for finals under Samresh Jung sir for many weeks prior to the World Championships. The only thought in my mind was that if I could stay true to my training and basics, I should not worry about the other shooters. The finals had series as well as two single-shot eliminations. So I did not want to lag behind much after the second series. And once that happened, I knew I could win a medal.

Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Esha Singh-Samrat Rana missed gold by a whisker at the Shooting World Championships. (ISSF)

Q. You required a last shot of 10.3 or more to deny Chin’s Kai Hu a shot at winning the world title. Were you tense at the end?

Samrat Rana: When a medal was confirmed with me, Varun Tomar and Hu left in the field, I was a bit relaxed. But I wanted to defeat Hu. I had seen him win many World Cup titles this year but was not afraid of him or any other shooter. The only competition I have is with myself.

Q. We have seen the likes of Manu Bhaker and Anish Bhanwala winning junior world titles or other honours at a young age. You have become one of the youngest world champions from India. Can you tell us about your inspirations in shooting and those you want to emulate?

Samrat Rana: When I started shooting in 2018, I idolised Abhinav Bindra sir. It was also the same time when Manu Bhaker, Anish Bhanwala and Saurabh Chaudhary won big titles, so I wanted to be like them. Especially Saurabh Chaudhary. I idolise the way he shoots with a calm mind and the kind of dominance he showed at the Asian Games very early in his career.

Q. Next year’s World Championships will also offer Olympic quota places. Have you thought about the Los Angeles Games?

Samrat Rana: The Olympics is the biggest target and an Olympic medal the biggest reward. My focus will be on maintaining consistency in my form as well to stay true to my technique and basics.

Nitin Sharma is an Assistant Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Based out of Chandigarh, Nitin works with the print sports desk while also breaking news stories for the online sports team. A Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award recipient for the year 2017 for his story ‘Harmans of Moga’, Nitin has also been a two-time recipient of the UNFPA-supported Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity for the years 2022 and 2023 respectively. Nitin mainly covers Olympics sports disciplines with his main interests in shooting, boxing, wrestling, athletics and much more. The last 17 years with The Indian Express has seen him unearthing stories across India from as far as Andaman and Nicobar to the North East. Nitin also covers cricket apart from women’s cricket with a keen interest. Nitin has covered events like the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2011 ODI World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup and the 2017 AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships. An alumnus of School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, from where he completed his Masters in Mass Communications degree, Nitin has been an avid quizzer too. A Guru Nanak Dev University Colour holder, Nitin’s interest in quizzing began in the town of Talwara Township, a small town near the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border. When not reporting, Nitin's interests lie in discovering new treks in the mountains or spending time near the river Beas at his hometown. ... Read More

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