Rubina Francis had ‘club foot’ from a young age. It was a problem as the inward turn of the feet would lead to a difficulty in balance. If one had watched her shoot in the 10-metre air pistol final at the Paralympics on Saturday evening in Chateauroux, the girl from Jabalpur showed she had forgotten all these problems long back. To shoot 211.1 points in the final and win bronze, this was path-breaking. No Indian had before this won a medal in Para pistol shooting and Rubina, 25, is indeed a champion with a difference.
Already, Chateauroux has become a happy hunting ground for India, with four Para medals coming from the shooting ranges, situated 275km away from Paris. When the sleepy town hosted the Paris 2024 Olympics and India had won three medals, it looked like this venue, next to a World War II airfield, had done well to come up with a make-shift venue. From then, till changes being made for the Para athletes, those manning the venue have done a great job. At least, that is the feedback from the shooting fraternity there in Chateauroux.
By and large, Para athletes come up the hard way. Each story is of an athlete wanting to excel, knowing fully well there will be challenges. In the case of Rubina, it is sheer destiny she made it this time to the Paralympics. Unlike many others who secured spots in the Paralympics through proper qualification events, Rubina had missed out. The Indian Para shooting body, which comes into news only once every few years during the Para Asian Games and the Paralympics, does a lot of work behind the scenes as well. A slot had been secured for Rubina, through the “bipartite rule.”
Anyone who saw her shoot in the Tokyo 2021 Paralympics did not think she was a medal prospect, as she had finished way outside the medal bracket. How wrong they were. After all, this girl has dreamt and slogged hard for a decade plus and it is the Madhya Pradesh state shooting academy which has seen her hone her skills and become sharper. There is a story of how her father Simon wanted to ensure daughter Rubina would pursue shooting despite financial hardships. He was not in a job which fetched him a fat salary but how could he not nurture her dreams, since she was a fan of Gagan Narang after his medal win at the 2012 London Olympics.
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Rubina learnt fast at the Madhya Pradesh academy, where Jaspal Rana and his brother Subhash Rana were coaches, along with Mansher Singh for shotgun events. “Yes, the Madhya Pradesh shooting academy was a good project and so many shooters have come from it. If I rewind to 2021, I can think of how the system in MP produced Chinki Yadav, who was unfortunate not to make the team for the Tokyo Olympics. As regards Rubina, the three years I worked in Bhopal, I had seen the hunger in her.
“The main problem was getting her the right shoes. Once that was done, we worked on her shooting technique. It is fitting the girl has pursued her passion and won a medal in Paralympics for India in pistol shooting. I am sure she will motivate many more in India,” said Jaspal Rana. He remains modest when he says these shooters like Manu Bhaker and Rubina know what to do. “They are all very sharp and fully aware what the challenge will be,” says Rana.
Can India win more medals in shooting at the Paralympics? “Why not, four medals in the kitty, it is a good start. These shooters are very determined and I have worked with many Para athletes as well,” said Rana. He is also working with an Indian shooter in Dehradun who is preparing for the World Deaf Games. “I will talk about him later, let him first deliver a medal,” he added.
Just to set the record straight, JP Nautiyal is Rubina’s current coach.
Also Read: From beginner to Paralympic medallist in three years – the Mona Agarwal story