Mehuli wants to be No.1 in rankings, to try new categories

Teen shooting sensation Mehuli Ghosh, who recently won a silver at the Commonwealth Games, said she wants to be the best in the 10m air rifle women's category, adding her wish to try her luck in 50m rifle 3 positions and prone event in the coming year.

Mehuli finished 17th after shooting 626.0 in 10m air rifle women's qualification event while in the mixed team 10m air rifle event she and Deepak Kumar finished eighth shooting 835.7 in the ISSF World Cup in Changwon, South Korea.

Upon reaching Kolkata from South Korea, Mehuli said she wants to become the No.1 ranked shooter. She is now sixth in the rankings.

"I do 50m rifle 3 positions but not too much. I am thinking of trying my hand in it after talking to coach. I will try 50m rifle 3 positions and 50m prone event maybe next year," Mehuli, 17, told reporters on arrival.

"My world rank is 6 now, to make it No. 1, I have to work harder," the 17-year-old added.

"The comppetiton (in South Korea) was tough and I felt good playing amidst senior players. It was a very high level there," Mehuli said when asked about her South Korea sojourn.

So far India has won only one medal with Shahzar Rizvi winning a silver in the men's 10m air pistol.

India will skip ISSF World Cup (Rifle/Pistol) in Fort Benning, US from May 7-15. Mehuli said the target now is doing well at the ISSF World Championship from August 31-September 15 and then at the Asian Games.

"The Indian team won't be sent to the USA for the World Cup. We want to focus on the Munich World Cup (May 22-May 29)," Mehuli said.

"The World Championship and Asian Games are also there, so we are focusing more on that," she added.

The shooters will meet President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 30. Mehuli will then leave for Germany for the World Cup.

Asked what she learnt from her CWG experience, Mehuli signed off by saying patience and keeping her cool in pressure situations are the things she picked up.

"Patience is the one thing I learnt from CWG. I have to keep cool and work on keeping focus. These are the lessons I learnt from CWG."

--IANS

dm/pur/vm