Meet Ramita Jindal: India's first medalist at Asian Games 2023

Most eyes were on Mehuli Ghosh in the 10m air rifle event at the Asian Games 2023 on Sunday but as the experienced shooter finished agonizingly fourth in the individual event, it was 19-year-old Ramita Jindal who grabbed the headlines with her bronze medal.

The youngster from Haryana is the Junior World Champion in the 10m air rifle and has been on a consistent rise since the past year.

After winning three medals at the Junior World Championships and senior medals in team events at the Senior World Cups, this is her first senior medal.

"It was the best result of my career, my first senior medal in shooting. I prepared very well, and I enjoyed it," Ramita told reporters after her win at the Asian Games.

Ramita dominated the qualification and finished second behind Han Jiyan of China, who smashed the 10m air rifle Games qualification record and Asian record with a superb 634.1.

Ramita shot consistent scores of 104.3, 106.7, 105.2, 104.3, 105.4, and 106.0 in the six series to garner 631.9.

Ramita shot 230.1 in the eight-woman 24-shots final, to finish behind Huang Yuting, who won gold with a games record score of 252.7. Ramita's bronze medal is the first individual medal for India at the 2023 Asian Games.

Ramita plans long for the Olympics

A shooting prodigy, Ramita picked up the sport at the age of 13 years when she was in the 8th standard. She started her practice at Karan Shooting Academy, Ladwa, Haryana. In the beginning, she went there for 1 to 2 hours, but after 1 year, she increased in hours of her practice.

Talking about her tryst with the sport, Ramita said, "I was 13 when I began. There are no other shooters in the family but I took it up because my father’s friend told me, ‘Have a try and see what happens’. So I started for fun and I enjoyed it.”

The youngster from Haryana, Ramita idolizes the former number one in the 10m air rifle and multiple world championships medalist Anjum Moudgil.

While the 2024 Paris Olympics are close, Ramita is planning long-term and wants to focus on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

"I’m preparing for LA (the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games) on a long-term project but I am preparing for Paris also," Ramita signed off.

Earlier in the day, Ramita along with Ashi Chouksey and Mehuli Ghosh opened India's medal tally at the Asian Games with a silver in the team event of 10m air rifle.