Shooter Palak Gulia’s journey from reluctant young shooter to Asian Games gold winner.

Delhi: The shooter, only 17 and who started shooting seriously just a couple of years ago, led India to an unexpected gold-silver finish in an event where the Chinese were tipped to dominate.She shared the podium on Friday with her roommate at the Athletes’ Village, Esha Singh, who returns home with a cool four-medal haul herself .

Esha, Palak and Divya also won the country a team silver in the event.

Young Palak used to frequently bring her books to practice at coach Rakesh Singh’s shooting facility in Faridabad. The young person from Haryana, whose family is from Nimana village in the Jhajjar district.

With a younger twin brother and sister, Jivesh and Jahnvi, and a businessman father in Joginder Singh, Palak went to Singh’s shooting range at her father’s urging. Palak is the family’s eldest child. Since coach Singh only coached in pistol shooting, the Haryana child chose to pursue her father’s desire for her to become a shooter.

Father Joginder Singh Gulia, a construction company owner who has relocated from Gurgaon to Faridabad in support of Palak’s training, recalls Palak’s early days in shooting. “I wanted her to play a sport where her performance is the single determining factor. She would first make an effort to balance her education and shooting. She would go to bed at two in the morning and study later to accommodate her filming schedule, according to her father Joginder Singh Gulia.at addition to taking home the gold at the ISSF Junior Cup in Suhl last year, the youngster also placed 50th in the women’s 10m Air Pistol competition at the World Championships in Cairo. She subsequently won the championship at the Khelo India games this year.