In the ever-changing landscape of Indian shooting, Shriyanka Sadangi has been a constant. The 28-year-old may not have the glitter of medals to show like some of her illustrious contemporaries, but she has been remarkably steady in her decade-long career.

All these years she has kept her level high enough to maintain her place among the top-five rifle shooters in India. While that has not always led to finding a place in the highly competitive Indian team of top three, especially in major events like the world championships and the just-concluded Asian Games in Hangzhou, Shriyanka has taken the setbacks in her stride and come back stronger.

Like she did at the Asian Shooting Championships in Changwon on Tuesday. It was an opportunity Shriyanka grabbed with both hands and sealed a Paris Olympics quota for India in 50m rifle 3 positions. It was India’s 13th Paris Olympics quota. Indian shooters have now sealed all eight quotas on offer in rifle events (air rifle and rifle 3 positions).

“I went there with a positive mindset and except for two shots in standing position, I was steady,” said Shriyanka.

She qualified for the final in 6th place with a score of 588/600, and finished fourth in the final. Shriyanka, Ashi Chouksey and Ayushi Podder won the team gold with a combined tally of 1766 points.

“I didn’t realise I had won the quota. It was when my name was announced for the quota as I was coming out of the lane that it hit me,” said the Odisha shooter.

“It has been a long journey. I had to work a lot on myself, be it physical, mental or technical aspects. I have learnt the hard way. When you are competing in a sport for so long and results do not come as you expect, it is tough to keep yourself motivated.”

Shriyanka has gone through several such low phases. “The last Olympic cycle was a big disappointment when I narrowly missed making the cut for the Indian team for the 2018 world championships. I clung on to the sadness for a long time. I did not let it go.”

Back then, Shriyanka was solely focused on air rifle and was one of the best in the event. She lost out to Anjum Moudgil, who was preferred as she was shooting in both events, 3P being Anjum’s forte. Anjum shot a quota for India in air rifle, that too with silver at the world championships, and maintained her form well enough to keep her quota going into Tokyo Olympics.

Shriyanka did move on and it made her to shift her focus to 3 positions because she was losing out on national berths for not being a common shooter.

Another such meltdown happened during the National Championships in Bhopal in 2021. She was so dejected at her poor showing in air rifle that she even thought of leaving the sport. Her coach Deepali Deshpande, who has mentored her since her junior days, was there to provide her hope.

“She was very upset. She was like, ‘A new shooter comes and wins it and you feel what have you done for so many years’. I told her you need to detach yourself from the result when you are standing on the lane. She needed a shift in her mindset. There is no point in getting emotional, you have to follow a process.”

It was an advice Shriyanka took on quickly. She won the 3P event and became national champion. “She has always been fighting for her place in the team, sometimes missing out due to small margins. It is natural you feel that way. The Bhopal nationals was a turnaround for her.”

So, when she could not make it to the team for the Asian Games, Shriyanka was prepared to battle her inner demons, especially as she was named in the team for the Asian Championships.

“I was very disappointed but did not hold on to it. I channelled all my energy towards the Asian Championships with a Paris Olympics quota on offer.”