Meet Suruchi Phogat, India's new golden girl who pipped Manu Bhaker

Her hair neatly slicked and parted down the middle, the cherubic Suruchi Singh Phogat looks a picture of unwavering concentration at the shooting range. The 19-year-old from Sasroli of Jhajjar district in Haryana, almost adjacent to where double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker comes from, is the new sensation in Indian shooting.   

Earlier this week, Suruchi grabbed headlines when she pipped Manu for her second individual gold medal in the ISSF World Cup in the 10m air pistol in Peru's capital Lima, with a tally of 243.6 in the 24-shot final. Manu was barely 1.3 points behind, and was gracious in showering praise on the rookie, who also shot to gold in her favourite event in the season-opening Buenos Aires leg of the ISSF World Cup only the week before.   

‘’We all are familiar with Suruchi’s name. She did exceptionally well in Buenos Aires (World Cup) as well as here (Lima). So I am really happy for her and I hope that this continues for a long time. And along with the youngsters, I hope that I also keep the pace up,’’ Manu said.

It was a double delight for Suruchi in Peru as she capped her individual gold with a second one in the 10m air pistol mixed team gold, in the company of Saurabh Chaudhury, to make it three gold medals from two World Cups.

“Gold medal jeetne ka shauk hai aur hamesha apne ko behtar karne ki koshish rehti hai (I like winning gold medals and every time I shoot, my goal is to better myself). I have no competition with anybody but with myself. And that has been my belief right from the day I started shooting,’’ Suruchi told the Indian Express from Peru.

What makes Suruchi’s feat exceptional, even in the context of Indian shooters’ consistent excellence in the world circuit over a number of years, is that even Manu does not have an individual gold in her favourite event at the World Cup. Her next stop will be the Junior World Cup in Seoul and Jitu Rai, a former Asian Games gold medallist and Olympian in 2016, who is Suruchi's personal coach, feels it’s time for her to set her sights — pun intended — on the next Asian Games and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Speaking to National Herald over phone, Jitu said that Suruchi's father Inder Singh Phogat — a retired military man like him — had brought a 13-year-old Suruchi to him at the Bhiwani Academy in 2019. ‘’Every day, she used to take the local train with her dad and two brothers to come to the academy from their village, a combined distance of 100 km. She had to spend four hours in training daily and it was sheer dedication and an ability to stay focused in the moment that has brought her so far,’’ said Jitu, a multiple medallist in World Cups and Khel Ratna awardee.

What made Suruchi choose the pistol from other shooting equipment? The story goes that when she was introduced to a makeshift shooting range in the backyard of their house, Suruchi figured out the pistol in three days. In the roughly six years since then, she zeroed in on the 10m air pistol individual and mixed event and has gone from strength to strength.

Suruchi (centre) and Manu Bhaker shot a 1-2 for India

The last sixth months or so saw Suruchi take giant strides in her journey, picking up a whopping seven gold medals in the Nationals, which included all three age groups in junior, youth and senior, as well as other events. The National Games in Uttarakhand saw her winning gold again while she was also at the peak of her confidence and form at the hugely competitive National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) trials.

‘’She has been in supreme form of late and so far, has not been distracted by all the media curiosity. It’s not that her scores were always extraordinary, but the consistency is paying for her and at this rate, we can hope for something good in the 2026 Asian Games as well as LA 2028,’’ Jitu said. Incidentally, the 37-year-old will also be training along the likes of Suruchi to realise his own Olympic medal dream, as he finished eighth in Rio 2016.

While Jitu and Suresh Singh, Suruchi’s childhood coach, feel that it’s her no-nonsense attitude has taken her this far, she is very much work in progress. ‘’There are things like time management at the range, and quick conditioning for matches outside India ahead of big tournaments. She is way too young but the way Suruchi took on powerful opponents in the two World Cups, we can certainly be hopeful,’’ Jitu said.