Simranpreet Kaur Brar Wins Gold at ISSF World Cup Final After Stunning Comeback in 25m Pistol Event
Twenty-one-year-old Punjab shooter Simranpreet Kaur Brar had spent countless hours watching videos of her fellow finalists in the women’s 25m pistol event at the ISSF World Cup Final in Doha , imagining herself standing on the podium next to them someday. On Sunday, that dream finally came true. With Paris double medallist Manu Bhaker missing out on the finals, Simran rose to the occasion and grabbed a stunning gold medal at the Doha World Cup.
Ranked World No. 31, Simran had to take on a formidable field Paris champion Yang Ji-in of Korea, World No. 2 Yao Qianxun, 2023 World champion Doreen Vennekamp of Germany, Paris 10m air pistol champion Oh Ye-Jin of Korea, World No. 3 Sun Yujjie of China, and India’s own World Championship bronze medallist Esha Singh. But Simran kept her composure, finishing just one shot short of Korean shooter Kim Yejin’s world record score of 42 to clinch the title.
“This is the biggest medal of my career,” Simran told The Indian Express, glowing with pride. “I’m happy I could fix my technique in time, and it worked. There are many more things to work on in the coming years, but this win really boosts my confidence.”
The triumph didn’t come easy. Starting the final with four missed shots in the first two series, Simran found herself in seventh place. But what followed was an extraordinary comeback. Over the next 40 shots in the elimination series, she missed only five more targets. Holding a three-shot lead over Qianxun and Vennekamp, Simran delivered a flawless final series a perfect five to edge out Qianxun and secure the gold.
“When I missed those early shots, I knew I had to let them go and reset,” she said. “Even when I shot a perfect series later, I forced myself to forget it and focus only on the next shot. That’s always been my approach.”
Watching the emotional moment from the stands were her parents father Sharminder Brar, who left his government teacher job three years ago to support her training, and mother Harcharan Kaur.
“People used to tell us that since Simran is an only child and a girl, we should focus on her marriage,” her father recalled. “But we wanted to give her the best. I even dipped into our savings to buy her pistols whether 10m or 25m. Her six pistols are like our family jewels.”
Simran has been steadily rising this season; she earlier won a silver medal at the Lima World Cup.
Indian shooting team’s high-performance manager Ronak Pandit shared how Simran fought her way back after a dip in form. “She was trying too hard, which affected her stability and trigger movement. Then she fell ill. We worked on technical exercises to make her trigger finger more independent and reduce wrist disturbance. She also has a special bond with my wife, Heena Sidhu, whom she idolises. She used to ask Heena for selfies now we told her we want selfies with her and this gold,” Pandit laughed.
Earlier in the day, India bagged two more medals. World Championships bronze medallist Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar won bronze in the men’s 50m rifle 3P final, while World Championship silver medallist Anish Bhanwala added a silver in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol final. Asian Games champion Sift Kaur Samra narrowly missed qualifying for the women’s 50m rifle 3P final.
Ranked World No. 31, Simran had to take on a formidable field Paris champion Yang Ji-in of Korea, World No. 2 Yao Qianxun, 2023 World champion Doreen Vennekamp of Germany, Paris 10m air pistol champion Oh Ye-Jin of Korea, World No. 3 Sun Yujjie of China, and India’s own World Championship bronze medallist Esha Singh. But Simran kept her composure, finishing just one shot short of Korean shooter Kim Yejin’s world record score of 42 to clinch the title.
“This is the biggest medal of my career,” Simran told The Indian Express, glowing with pride. “I’m happy I could fix my technique in time, and it worked. There are many more things to work on in the coming years, but this win really boosts my confidence.”
The triumph didn’t come easy. Starting the final with four missed shots in the first two series, Simran found herself in seventh place. But what followed was an extraordinary comeback. Over the next 40 shots in the elimination series, she missed only five more targets. Holding a three-shot lead over Qianxun and Vennekamp, Simran delivered a flawless final series a perfect five to edge out Qianxun and secure the gold.
“When I missed those early shots, I knew I had to let them go and reset,” she said. “Even when I shot a perfect series later, I forced myself to forget it and focus only on the next shot. That’s always been my approach.”
Watching the emotional moment from the stands were her parents father Sharminder Brar, who left his government teacher job three years ago to support her training, and mother Harcharan Kaur.
“People used to tell us that since Simran is an only child and a girl, we should focus on her marriage,” her father recalled. “But we wanted to give her the best. I even dipped into our savings to buy her pistols whether 10m or 25m. Her six pistols are like our family jewels.”
Simran has been steadily rising this season; she earlier won a silver medal at the Lima World Cup.
Indian shooting team’s high-performance manager Ronak Pandit shared how Simran fought her way back after a dip in form. “She was trying too hard, which affected her stability and trigger movement. Then she fell ill. We worked on technical exercises to make her trigger finger more independent and reduce wrist disturbance. She also has a special bond with my wife, Heena Sidhu, whom she idolises. She used to ask Heena for selfies now we told her we want selfies with her and this gold,” Pandit laughed.
Earlier in the day, India bagged two more medals. World Championships bronze medallist Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar won bronze in the men’s 50m rifle 3P final, while World Championship silver medallist Anish Bhanwala added a silver in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol final. Asian Games champion Sift Kaur Samra narrowly missed qualifying for the women’s 50m rifle 3P final.
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