Within hours of claiming a gold medal in the final of the women’s 10m pistol event (individual), India’s Palak Gulia has the netizens chanting her name. It is no surprise though, as the teenager achieved a historic milestone on her way to her golden peak. She aggregated a total of 242.1 points to create a new Asian Games record on Friday, September 29.
Her golden achievement has helped India move all the way to number four on the medals tally of the Asian Games and the country is now only trailing behind the apex position holders China, the second-placed Republic of South Korea and Japan who are currently third on the table.
Palak faced stern competition from her compatriot and another emerging shooting sensation of India, Esha Singh. Both Palak and Esha gave each other a stiff fight before the former took a decisive lead in the final moments of the event to secure the top position on the podium and Esha had to settle for silver.
Kishmana Talak of Pakistan won the bronze to round off the podium.
Who is Palak Gulia?
Born in Jhajjar, Haryana on November 9, 2005, Palak always had a keen interest in athletics but she soon fell in love with shooting during her early schooling. Her love for the sport made her rapidly rise up the ranks and managed to be a part of India’s women’s team that claimed silver in the 10m pistol event at the Shotgun and Rifle/Pistol World Championships in Cairo, Egypt in 2022.
What stands out about Palak is the fact that she came into the Asian Games after a disappointing run at the ISSF World Shooting Championships at Baku as she failed to secure a berth in the Paris Olympics. But the 17-year-old didn’t let the disappointment hurt her performance in Hangzhou.