“Making Country Proud Is Every Athlete’s Dream”: Palak Gulia On Winning Gold

Hangzhou [China] : After winning a gold medal in the Women’s 10m Air Pistol Individual event, Indian shooter Palak Gulia said she got emotional when the national anthem was played during the podium ceremony.

Indian pistol shooter Palak won the gold with a score of 242.1. She managed 577 (23x) in the qualifying round for seventh place and sneaked into the medal round. Only the top eight made it to the final.

The 17-year-old said she got emotional after watching the national flag soar high and the anthem play and it felt like she actually did something for India.

“It feels great. This is the day we have been waiting for the past 10 days since we came here…I have never felt something greater than this, the moment you see your national flag going up, your anthem playing, you actually know that everything you have done has given you this,” Palak said.

The shooter also won a team silver medal in the women’s 10m Air Rifle Pistol team final with Esha Singh, Palak and Divya Subbaraju.

Reflecting on her gold medal performance in the 10m Air Pistol event, Palak said it was a dream come true for her.

“Making our country proud is every athlete’s dream. So, it is a dream come true…The major game is the Olympics now. So, it is time to step up and work,” she added.

It is India’s finest performance in shooting at the Asian Games with six gold, seven silver and five bronze medals, a total of 18 medals.

Indian players will also contest in trap events and women’s skeet in the next two days.