Have to work harder for bigger challenges: Mehuli Ghosh

Teenage shooting sensation Mehuli Ghosh is back in India after winning a silver in the 10m air rifle event at the ongoing 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, but there is hardly time to rest on her laurels. The selection trials for the ISSF World Cup in Korea later this month, start from tomorrow.

Ghosh, 17, came home this morning to an overjoyed family, friends and coach. In fact, the rest of the air rifle shooting squad, too, is back in India.

A day’s rest after the long flight from Australia, select interactions over phone—screened by her coach Joydeep Karmakar—and a brief recovery is what she was allowed on her arrival in Delhi.

Ghosh missed the gold in the play-off, despite hitting a perfect 10.9. She thought she had clinched it and even pumped her fist, only to be told that there was one more shot to go. The last shot was a 9.9. Clearly, her premature celebration had unsettled her. This was, after all, the teenager’s first Commonwealth Games experience.

“I learnt that CWG is a totally different ball game from what I have experienced in World Cups. The whole world is watching you; there is live broadcast on television. There’s lot of pressure but you have to control it. It is true one has to play one’s own game but one has to fight till the last minute. Anything can happen at any moment,” she told THE WEEK.

The first thing she did after her event was over, was to apologise to her personal coach Karmakar—a former Olympian. Despite being elated with the manner in which she qualified for the final and her eventual high score, he was not too happy with the final result. But now, when Ghosh looks at her medal, she is happy with her achievement. “It feels good. I am very happy. But this is not enough. I have to work much harder for the bigger challenges ahead,” she said.

With barely a few days to go before she leaves for another senior competition, Ghosh is extremely pragmatic about life on the road as a professional athlete. “This, too, is part of the deal. You have to have to be mentally strong. One competition got over, and another one is about to start—you don’t have any time to celebrate, you have to start from zero again. It just shows that you need to be ready within two hours if needed for your next competition. I guess every player has to deal with it,” she said.

With the CWG out of the way, the next big event that Team India will look to focus on—and taste similar success—is the Asian Games in Jakarta in August. For Ghosh, it will be time to get back to basics in the interim. “I will focus on the basics and technique in the coming months. The aim is to give my best in each competition I participate. I will not focus on what I will get from these. The idea is to perform well. I am happy with whatever comes with that.”