‘Idea is not to be overconfident’ – World record holder Sift Kaur Samra stays humble in victory

Sift Kaur Samra has the potential to be a world champion.

The 23-year-old is the Asian Games gold medallist, world record holder, and has won two gold medals at the recently concluded Asian Shooting Championships in Kazakhstan in the women’s rifle 3-position event.

For all her achievements and potential, the bubbly Sift keeps things simple and stays grounded by sporting a healthy attitude.

“I really enjoyed winning the two gold medals. Winning the team medal with Ashi Chouksey and Anjum Moudgil was a great experience. I just loved it,” said Sift as she interacted with Sportstar.

“The competition was good. The conditions were quite windy during qualification,” said Sift, who incidentally top-scored with 589 out of 600.

She was quite modest about winning the gold, 0.4 points ahead of China’s Yang Yujie in the 45-shot final. “Actually, the Chinese gave me a chance as she shot 8.7 after I had shot 9.4,” recalled Sift, whose 9.6 penultimate shot fetched her the lead in a gripping climax.

“The score was not that great, but it was good to get the gold,” said Sift, whose world record of 469.6 stands more than 10 points better than her effort in Kazakhstan.

Champion Sift Kaur Samra with coaches Satguru Das and Manoj Kumar in the recent Asian shooting championship in Shymkent, Kazakhstan.
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With loads of experience in the international circuit, Sift knows the importance to shoot at one’s best and stay with the flow of the competition, rather than worry about scores.

She was particularly pleased with the expertise the national federation showed in handling a massive contingent of more than 250 shooters, coaches and officials. “We trained, shot our match and took rest. It was very hot there. For the physios and psychologists, it was a big task dealing with all the shooters.”

She was happy to see the young bunch of 3-position shooters Anushka Thokur, Mahit Sandhu and Prachi Gaikwad shooting strong. “The juniors are doing very well. Anushka played the final so well to get the junior gold.”

She said that the juniors need to be relaxed during the final when they shoot the Junior World Cup in Delhi.

Reluctantly accepting the fact that she would not be shooting the World Cup in China, Sift said that she would prepare her best for the World Championship in Cairo, at another “very windy range”.

“Every time, I start training from zero. My idea is not to be overconfident, thinking about what I have done in the previous matches. I will train as much as possible to shoot my best,” she assured.

Published on Sep 04, 2025