Her plan to make a camouflaged entry into her native state Gujarat was put to rest when a crowd flocked in hordes to greet lajja Gauswami at the airport and the Commonwealth Games medallist, in hindsight, is only “happy” about the “positive” developments around shooting.
lajja, an ISSF World Cup silver medallist, bagged a bronze in women’s 50m rifle 3 positions as India ended their spectacular shooting campaign on a high at the recently-held Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
She says it’s not just India but in Gujarat too, interest around shooting has gone up.
“Things are also improving in Gujarat... There would be no sponsors in the past, but now there are quite a few though we need more. My kit including the rifle and other weapons were sponsored by the Gujarat Government, they gave me the money and I got the weapons imported,” lajja said.
“I can only be very happy that there were people to see me at the airport, since not many were informed about (her arrival from Glasgow). This is a positive development,” said the 26-year-old markswoman, who hails from Anand district.
Preparing for the upcoming World Championships, to be held in Granada, Spain, where 64 quota places for the 2016 Rio Olympics will be up for grabs, lajja says she is not thinking about medals right now.
“Right now I am only focused on training and working out on my loopholes. Medals are not on my mind at the moment. I know I will succeed if I shoot well and for that I need to train hard. So I am only concentrating on training now,” the shooter added.
For the record, lajja had shot a silver at the same venue where the World Championships are to be held from September 6-19, but she was not willing to read too much into it when asked if that was at the back of her mind.
“Yes I won a silver there last year and I know the range but that’s about it. It’s going to be different this time as it always depends on the given day, conditions, wind etc.. lots of factors play a role,” she said.