In a bizarre and heart-breaking twist, junior women’s shooter Vanshika Chaudgary got confused while preparing to fire her final shot despite being on course for a gold medal, and potentially a world record, at the prestigious ISSF Junior World Championship in Suhl, leaving everyone in disbelief.
With spectators watching in full view on Thursday, including International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) president Luciano Rossi, Vanshika, competing in her maiden Junior World Championship, was comfortably leading with a score of 191.3, 1.6 points ahead of compatriot Sejal Kambli (189.7), and was all set for her final shot—one that would have secured her the gold medal even with a poor score.
Another Indian shooter, Himanshi, was tied for third place with Bulgaria’s Maria Atanasova at 187.6.
But in a stunning turn of events, the 21-year-old Vanshika remained motionless and failed to take her final shot, leaving the jury and range officials stunned, while newly-appointed pistol team coach Vivek Singh watched in complete bewilderment.
Sejal went on to be crowned the junior world champion, while Maria claimed the silver and Himanshi the bronze in a final where India could have swept all three podium places had Vanshika not committed the costly error.
The announcer announced all the scores and said that, given the closeness of the contest, there could be a shoot-off, which Vanshika mistakenly interpreted as a command for a shoot-off, even though she still had to fire her final shot. She eventually finished fourth.
A shoot-off in competitive shooting is an additional series of shots used to break a tie between athletes with identical scores. It determines the winner, medal positions, advancement to the next stage, or final rankings.
National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) secretary-general Pawankumar Singh termed the incident “very unfortunate” and said a misunderstanding over the announcement led to Vanshika’s confusion.
“When the coach spoke to the shooter (Vanshika) later, she said she had interpreted the command as one for a shoot-off, which created confusion in her mind,” Singh told PTI.
“The coach tried to gesture to the shooter (Vanshika) to take the shot because verbal coaching is not allowed during competition. A coach can only gesture and cannot speak. The shooter had her eyes closed and was concentrating, believing it was a shoot-off. When the command was given to take the final shot, she remained focused with her eyes closed and did not look towards her coach.
“Had she looked at her coach even once during that period, she would have understood the situation. She was convinced that it was a shoot-off command and not a regular command, which caused the confusion. As per the rules, the responsibility lies with the shooter,” he explained.
Asked if there was any scope for a protest, he said, “What will we protest for? It was the shooter’s mistake.”
“I completely agree that it is very unfortunate. This is the first such incident in my entire career where any shooter in the world, not just from India, has made such a mistake.”
Looking ahead, he said the incident would become a case study for the training of future shooters.
“We will make it a part of our training. Just as we analyse instances where someone gets disqualified and take corrective measures to ensure such mistakes are not repeated, there is a lesson for us here as well. Young athletes will be taught about this mistake so that it is never repeated in the future. This learning will be incorporated into every camp,” he said.
