Eureka’s moment was when a 13-year-old then headed to Bhiwani, the famous Indian boxing cradle that produced determined people like Vijender Singh and Hawa Singh, trying to photograph her hands.
She was admitted to Guru Dronacharya Shooting Academy run by a little-known coach, Suresh Singh.
As of Tuesday, Jhajjar, 18, pushed double Olympic handmade Bhaker to silver at the women’s 10 million pistol competition in Lima, Peru, and won his second straight gold medal at the ISSF World Cup.
She is now one of the most promising faces on the shooting scene.
“I’ve read about where Sulachi wants to be a wrestler. Actually, it’s my idea to see my cousin’s exploitation of ‘goonga pehalwan’. Inder added: “She wanted to do a good job in shooting since she was a kid and that’s what kept her so far. “It’s all thanks to the shooting range in Sasroli in their village. The facility run by Kagill War veteran Anil Jakhar is very close to their house, and it is a disguised blessing when Suruchi has to stop her Bhiwani sojourns due to the pandemic.
“I remember Sulachi’s father brought her to my range (Kargill Shooting Academy). Their house was a throw of stone for my academy. Her father was very determined.
“He wanted Suruchi to be an accomplished shooter like Manu Bhaker,” Jagal recalled, who was injured during the Kagill War.
Eventually, he moved to the Army Shooting Division in Mhow (Indore), after which he retired and opened the shooting range.
Jacquel said proudly: “I’ve trained her for a long time. In fact, Manu trained with me, too.”
He said: “When Suruchi came to me in 2019, she was about 12-13 years old. She entered the Indian team when she trained at the academy and participated in several junior international events.”
After the pandemic ended, Surachi resumed Bivani’s training.
“Suruchi worked very hard and got our full support. I was her first coach and Bhiwani’s Suresh has been coaching her since then.”
He added: “In that tough phase, when all the academies were closed, it was the closest place to our home…that was in the village so she could continue to train.”
The 18-year-old shooter beat a tough field, including Manu and several top scorers in the world, is it time for Suruchi to start dreaming of the ultimate glory of the Olympics?
Her father said: “I believe that if she works hard, she will be rewarded…taste the fruits of success. Every child dreams of the glory of the Olympics, the Commonwealth and Asian games.”
“At the end of the day, she keeps rooting, which is a good thing. Doing housework, working on the farm…she only knows how to work hard and focus on learning and shooting.”
