‘Now I realise I’ve made the right decision’ Asian Games medalist Dhillon

The wrestling mat did not quite work out for Himanshu Dhillon but it left him with something far more valuable a neversaydie attitude that came to the fore on the biggest day of his young shooting careerOn his 21st birthday Dhillon refused to settle for bronze fought his way past teammate and former world champion Rudrankksh Patil and walked away with a silver in the mens 10m air rifle at the Asian Games here on Monday It was his first senior international medal and fittingly it came on a day when the lessons from his brief tryst with wrestling proved as important as his shooting skillsWhen I started shooting I felt Kahan panga le liya maine have I taken the right decision by taking up shooting When I used to lie down on the mat I would wonder if I had made the right choice Dhillon the junior World Cup champion in New Delhi last year said following the biggest achievement of his careerToday after winning the silver I realise whatever decision I took was right It was not a wrong decision Shooting after all was never part of the original plan His father had sent him to Gurukul Pundri in Kaithal to make him selfreliant Dhillon was also a little on the heavier side as a youngster and his uncle Hardeep Singh Dhillon an Olympian who competed at the 2016 Rio Games suggested wrestling But the young Dhillon soon discovered that wrestling was a different kind of battleWrestling is a hard difficult sport I was not able to adjust to its rigours he said There was however a shooting range at the gurukul Dhillon started spending time there and gradually found himself drawn towards a sport that would eventually change the course of his life His parents made their own sacrifices along the way They left their village and moved to Kaithal to support their son making Mondays medal particularly satisfying for DhillonMy parents also made sacrifices They left their village and came to Kaithal So I am very happy that their sacrifices have borne fruit he said The gurukul may no longer exist Dhillon believes it has since shut down but what he learnt there stayed with him It surfaced again when the qualification round threatened to become hectic His coachs message was simple forget the medal forget the final and concentrate on the next shotMy coach asked me to follow the process and not overthink about the match the final or the medals He told me to remain in the present Dhillon said That advice coupled with the fighting instinct picked up on the wrestling mat proved crucial when the final reached its tense closing stages Once bronze was assured Dhillon could have settled for what would already have been a landmark achievement Instead he chose to keep fightingWhen I was assured that the bronze had been secured I could have probably given up hope But my mindset was not to give up I still felt the colour of the medal could change Maybe Rudrankksh Patil could falter or I could shoot a good score he said Rudrankksh did falter Dhillon stayed in the fight and seized the opportunity moving ahead of his more accomplished teammate to claim silver It was the kind of finish that reflected the mentality he had carried from HaryanaAao milao aur chala do Dhillon said recalling the rustic phrase he had grown up hearing a typically Haryana way of saying essentially come together and get on with it There was another piece of Haryana wisdom waiting for him at home His father has never been one to let his son become comfortable with anything less than the ultimate prize I belong to Haryana and my father only says only get gold no other medalOnly the one who wins gold is the winner all else are losers Dhillon said So even on his 21st birthday after winning his first senior medal and helping Indias Asian Games tally Dhillon was already looking beyond silver In the final today also my intention was to aim for gold Unfortunately that didnt happen But I will keep trying to win a gold in some international competition soonThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever