Who is Vidarsha K Vinod? Keralam’s first female shooter to win a medal at Asian Games
Keralam etched its name into the Asian Games history books after Vidarsa K Vinod has became the first female shooter from the state to win a medal at the continental showpiece on Sunday. Vinod was a part of the Indian women’s 10 meter air rifle team that won silver, to open the country’s medal haul in Aichi-Nagoya in Japan.
Besised the team event, Vinod is also competing in the women’s 50m rifle 3 Positions event. This is Vinod’s first-ever Asian Games. The Indian trio of Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar, and Vinod combined for a total of 1898.0 points to finish second behind China (1904.2). Japan (1897.1) took bronze.
Sonam was India’s top scorer with 634.1 points, followed by Elavenil with 633.5 and Vidarsa with 630.4. The silver was an encouraging start to India’s shooting campaign after the country’s shooters produced a record 22-medal haul — seven gold, nine silver and six bronze — in Hangzhou in 2023.
Vidarsa K Vinod thanks family and husband
Born in 1999, Vinod hails from Kozhikode and graduated from St Mary’s College. It was during her college says when she first took up shooting as a part of National Cadet Corps in 2018. Speaking to a TV channel, she said that she was very happy she could win a medal in her first Asian Games.
“There are very few people from Keralam in this sport and I am happy to be first woman from the state to win a medal in shooting,” Vinod said. Vinod, who got married a year-and-a-half ago, said right after her wedding she began her training and was taking part in international events, and therefore, she and her husband could not spend much time together.
Vinod said that it was due to the support of her parents, husband, other family members and her coach that she won a silver in the Asian Games.
Keralam CM congratulates Vidarsa K Vinod
Keralam Chief Minister V D Satheesan congratulated Vinod on her achievement via a video call, visuals of which were shared on Facebook. During the video call, he told her that everyone was “happy and proud” of her achievement.
“We wish Vidarsa, who has made the nation proud through her hard work and determination, continued success in scaling new heights in the future. She is an asset for Keralam and the state will extend its full support and assistance to her,” he said.
State Sports Minister OJ Janeesh said that the government will take care of those who win medals for the nation in the Asian Games. He also said that the government intends to take steps to provide jobs, in accordance with their eligibility, to such sportspersons.
Vidarsha K Vinod assured of ₹30 lakh
The Keralam government had earlier this month announced cash rewards of ₹50 lakh for state athletes winning gold medals at the Asian Games, ₹30 lakh for silver and ₹20 lakh for bronze.
Vinod welcomed the recent cash prizes announced by the state government for Asian Games medallists and said that it was also a huge motivation. “Prior to this our sportspersons had not received any such cash prize from the government. So, this support gives us energy to perform,” she said.
