Indian shooter Sift Kaur Samra recently won the gold medal in women's 50m 3P Rifle event at the ISSF World Cup in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She was one of the medal hopes for India in Paris Olympics but unfortunately finished 31st in her event. 

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She defined her win in season's first event as "amazing and very relaxing at the same time."

She has started the new season with a bang and looks confident to continue her streak - one event at a time starting from next World Cup in June 2025 in Peru.

She recently spoke to WION about her training, importance of mental strength while in an event, her come-from-behind win in Argentina and more.

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How important this win is given that the Paris Olympics didn't go as per plan and there must have been some pressure on you?

It was not like like that (pressure situation). You have to pay attention and do well. Paris was a different thing and this is totally a different thing. So I never had a thought to decide like for this World Cup. It was being like into the new season for 2028 and starting from the first World Cup winning, the first goal of the first World Cup. That was really good and really meant a lot. So that was the thing I enjoyed a lot.


What was going through your mind during the finals? You were behind after the first round. What was the process that you focused on?

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First of all, I was like it's over. I will be at 8 (position) but then after that I had a thought I can push it and bring it to like somewhere in the middle. I don't want to get out at 8 position. And after that when I had Prone, I though how much I can cover and need to cover it. And Prone was pretty good and then Standing was pretty good too. So after that I decided I just have to focus on Kneeling when I will be back to the training sessions. And now so I think for this year I have to focus on Kneeling.


How important is the mental aspect and the strength required for shooting. For an outsider it might look like an easy game. But what are your thoughts? How much mental strength is required to stay focused in the game, stay in the moment?

I think mentally you have to be very, very strong. We always feel like shooting is just aim it and shoot but people don't know that it's about not only shooting, it's about mentally how you are taking it and how you are thinking of the process. For me, it always like keep talking to me - as in okay, this shot is not perfect, what is the thing that I've missed in my process or if this series is not perfect, that match has not been good, how I can make it better and how I can make it or push myself as 'no, I have to do it.' So all of the stuff is done mentally only.

My sister is also going to start the shooting. I just always tell her, it's not just about the shooting, it's about your mind and how you are going to play with your mind. So mind plays very, very important role in shooting.

During practice, do you have certain exercises to keep the mental strength up there or just be in the prime shape mentally as well as physically?

In tournaments, you can build it up or make it very clear but during training, because already you are in a relaxed state of mind. You think, okay, this is just a training  so you play that thing at a certain level of relaxation - Like it's just a training only so why to think a lot about it.

But some athletes do keep a check like this is a training then also we have to speak to ourselves. We don't play a mind game during training. We just always focus on the process during the training. So I never had a thought while training. I always had a thought while shooting a competition only.

How different is this atmosphere for an event like ISSF World Cup and Olympics. How different is the pressure, expectations of yourself, of the fans?

It's totally opposite. Because I think now after winning a medal, people would know that there was a World Cup also going on. But before Olympics, people always knew because of the advertisement that okay, Olympics is there. So the kind of pressure and the kind of atmosphere is totally different.

Do you imply different tactics to deal with those pressures in different tournaments or it is just the same process with you?

The Olympics (Paris 2024) was the first time for me - and that's one thing that I need to focus on for the next Olympics. I was not used to it and I was not knowing also that directly people are going to come and say to me that tomorrow is your tournament, we will come to see. 

In other competitions, no one just come and say to you, you have a tournament, we will come to see.

I didn't know that these things are going to happen (at Olympics). I was a bit nervous for that. In other tournaments, like this World Cups and Asian Championships or World Championships, I never had that kind of a conversation with someone. It's always like you have a tournament, all the best, that's it. 

So for next Olympics, I am definitely going to work on that. I have to be more into myself. I have to be just away from the social media.