Heena Sidhu

Heena Sidhu (born 29 August 1989) is an Indian sport shooter. On 7 April 2014, Sidhu became the first Indian pistol shooter to reach number one in world rankings by the International Shooting Sport Federation.[2] In 2013, Sidhu became the first Indian pistol shooter to win a gold medal in an ISSF World Cup finals when she won the 10-metre air pistol event. In 2014, Sidhu was the World record holder in the 10-metre air pistol event with a final score of 203.8.[3] Sidhu is right handed and is right eye dominant.

Heena Sidhu

Personal information
Nationality	India
Citizenship	Indian
Born	(1989-08-29) 29 August 1989 Ludhiana, Punjab, India
Residence	Mumbai, India[1]
Education	Bachelor of Dental Surgery
Alma mater	Yadavindra Public School, Patiala Gian Sagar Dental College.
Occupation	Sportsman (Shooter)
Height	163 cm (5 ft 4 in) (As of April 2013)
Weight	50.5 kg (111 lb) (As of April 2013)
Spouse(s)	Ronak Pandit ( m. 2013)
Sport
Rank	No.1 (7 April 2014)
Medal record Representing  India Women's shooting World Cup 2013 Germany 10 m air pistol 2017 New Delhi 10 m air pistol mixed team 2009 Beijing 10 m air pistol 2014 Fort Benning 10 m air pistol Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi 10 m air pistol pairs 2018 Gold Coast 25 m pistol 2010 Delhi 10 m Air Pistol 2018 Gold Coast 10 m Air Pistol Asian Games 2010 Guangzhou 10 m air pistol team 2014 Incheon 25 m pistol team 2018 Jakarta-Palembong 10 m air pistol Commonwealth Championships 2017 Brisbane 10 m air pistol Asian Championships 2015 Kuwait 10 m air pistol 2007 Kuwait 10 m air pistol

Personal life

In 2013, Sidhu received a Bachelor of Dental Surgery.[4] Sidhu's father was a national sports shooter. Her brother is also a shooter in the 10 metre air pistol event. Sidhu's uncle is a gunsmith and gun customizer. On 7 February 2013, Sidhu married Ronak Pandit, also a pistol shooter who also acts as her coach.[4] Sidhu resides in Goregaon, Mumbai.[5]

Career

Sidhu began shooting in 2006, participating in the national junior and senior teams. She was a member of the Patiala Club. She began shooting to aid her admission into dental school.[4]

In 2009, Sidhu won a silver medal at the ISSF World Cup in Beijing.[6] She won first place in the women's 10 m air pistol event at the national championship in Kerala.

Sidhu, with Annu Raj Singh and Sonia Rai, won a silver medal in the Women's 10 m air pistol team event at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. With Annu Raj Singh scoring 375 points and Sidhu scoring 384 points, Sidhu and Singh won a gold medal in the women's pairs 10 metre air pistol at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.[7] In the singles event, Sidhu won a silver medal.[4]

Sidhu was a member of the Indian team to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.[8] She competed in the women's 10 metre air pistol event, finishing twelfth in the qualification round. Sidhu was part of the official London Olympic Games film entitled First: The Story of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The film, written, produced and directed by Caroline Rowland followed a dozen first-time Olympic athletes as they prepared to compete in London.[9] [10]

In 2013, Sidhu won the gold medal at the ISSF World Cup Finals in Munich, Germany.[11] Sidhu defeated the world champion Zorana Arunovic of Serbia and the previous winner, Olena Kostevych of Ukraine with 203.8 points, which gave her a 5-point lead at the end of the event.[12]

In the 2014 Indian National Shooting trials, Sidhu won by 0.1 point over Rahi Sarnobat in the women’s air pistol event.[13]

In 2016, Sidhu qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in the women's 10 metre air pistol and the women's 25 metre pistol events. She finished fourteenth in the women's 10 metre air pistol and twentieth in the women's 25 metre pistol qualifying rounds.[14]

In 2017, Sidhu won gold medal in women's 10 metre air pistol event at the Commonwealth shooting championships in Brisbane.[15]

In 2016, Sidhu pulled out of the Asian Air Gun Championships in Tehran because Iran made the wearing of the hijab mandatory for female participants.[16][17]

At the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Sidhu won a silver medal in the women’s 10 metre air pistol event, and a gold medal in the women’s 25 metre air pistol event. She broke the Commonwealth Games record of 38 in winning the gold medal.[18]

Awards

On 28 August 2014, Sidhu was conferred the Arjuna Award.[19]

References

1. Nandakumar Marar (5 February 2014). "ISSF cover girl Heena Sidhu says performance matters". The Hindu. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
2. "Shooter Heena Sidhu claims numero uno spot in 10 m air pistol Rankings". Post.jagran.com. 7 April 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
3. Firstpost. "ISSF ratifies Heena Sidhu's world pistol record". Firstpost. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
4. "Shooting | Athlete Profile: Heena SIDHU - Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games". results.gc2018.com. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
5. "Gold medal-winning shooter Heena Sidhu on her struggles, husband s support". mid-day. 29 October 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
6. "With World Cup silver, Sidhu comes of age". The Indian Express. 22 April 2009. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
7. "Heena Sidhu, Anu Raj Singh bag gold in shooting". NDTV. 12 October 2010. Archived from the original on 15 October 2010. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
8. "Results of 52nd National Shooting Championships in Kerala". Indianshooting.com. Archived from the original on 1 July 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
9. Rowland, Caroline (30 May 2013), First, John Orozco, Heena Sidhu, David Rudisha, retrieved 16 March 2018
10. "London 2012: Caroline Rowland's 'First' to Chronicle 12 Competitors' Stories at the Olympics". The Hollywood Reporter. 13 July 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
11. "Heena Sidhu beats World Champion to clinch Gold in Shooting World Cup finals | India at Sports". Indiaatsports.in. 11 November 2013. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
12. "Indian Shooter Heena Sidhu Will Appear on Cover Page of ISSF Journal". Womenpla.net. 3 January 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
13. "Heena Sidhu snatches victory". The Hindu. 22 January 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
14. "Rio Olympics 2016: Heena Sidhu's campaign ends after failing to qualify for 25m air pistol final". First Post. 9 August 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
15. "Sidhu clinches gold, Deepak gets bronze at Commonwealth shooting". The Hindu. Press Trust of India (PTI). 31 October 2017. Archived from the original on 11 December 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
16. Indian shooter Heena Sidhu refuses to wear ‘hijab’, pulls out of Asian shooting championship in Iran, India TV, 29 October 2016
17. Joshua Arpit Nath: Indian Shooter Heena Sidhu Refuses To Wear A Hijab, Withdraws From Airgun Competition In Iran, The Times of India, 29 October 2016
18. Express Web Desk (10 April 2018). "CWG 2018: Heena Sidhu breaks Commonwealth Games record, wins 11th gold for India". The Indian Express. IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
19. "Heena Sidhu Profile, Stats, Record: Heena Sidhu breaks CWG record to clinch gold medal in Women's 25m Pistol in Gold Coast". The Indian Express. 1 April 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2018.

External links

• Heena Sidhu profile at International Shooting Sport Federation
• Heena Sidhu on IMDb
• Heena Sidhu Opentalk with Sumit Jain