Heena Sidhu made her country proud by winning a gold in women’s 25 metre pistol final at the Commonwealth Games 2018 (CWG 2018) in Gold Coast to win the gold medal in style. Heena, who had won silver on Sunday in the 10 metre air pistol event, broke the CWG record in the final with a score of 38. The 28-year-old beat Elena Galiabovitch, the initial leader in the final round. The Australian,who ended with a score of 35, faded in the latter half of the final, even as Heena got into the zone.
The Indian was trailing behind Galiabovitch till the fifth series of the final. Heena Sidhu did well to close the gap by scoring with all her five shots in the fifth series before another perfect score in the sixth saw her take the joint lead.
The Indian took sole lead after the first shot in the seventh series and subsequently increased the gap. With a two-point lead at the end of the seventh series, Heena found the target in four of the five shots in the eighth to surge ahead by three points.
The 25 meter pistol final saw Heena near the elimination mark at one point but the former world number recovered at just the right time and soldiered on towards the gold.
Her total score of 38 is also a new Commonwealth Games record. Elena Galiabovitch of Australia scroed 35 to take silver while Malaysia’s Alia Sazana Azahari got bronze with 26.
This was the 11th gold medal for India in this year’s CWG and Heena’s first individual gold in three editions of this quadrennial event.
