PUNE, Sept 17:
Priyesha Deshmukh can’t hear the sound of pellets hitting the target, but sight of a perfect 10 is still music to her ears.
The hearing-impaired shooter from Pune may not have heard the applause, but taste of success was as sweet as ever, when she rose to the podium in Kazan, Russia.
Priyesha, 23, won bronze in the 10m air rifle category at the 1st World Deaf Shooting Championships held in Kazan. It wasn’t just the maiden international participation for Priyesha, but it was also the first time the Pune girl had gone to a foreign land.
Priyesha scored 180.4 in the final to secure the third spot, a big achievement for someone who started the sport only three years ago, and even otherwise. She had qualified for the medal round after scoring 404.9 in the qualification round. Ukraine’s Svitlana Yatsenko (201.6 in final) and Serbia’s Gordana Mikovic (200.3) won gold and silver respectively.
With the World Championships medal around her neck, Priyesha is now aiming for the Deaflympics, Olympics for the deaf, scheduled to be held in Samsun, Turkey, next year.
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