These siblings grew up with the freedom to choose their own paths in life, and they did just that, but in the most unexpected way.
Sidakbir chose the stethoscope over the rifle, Sift just did the reverse; she picked the rifle for the stethoscope.
And now, Sift Kaur Samra and her younger brother Sidakbir Singh Samra are both doing well in their own fields.
The 23-year-old Sift dropped out from her medicine course and on Wednesday shattered the world record, setting a new benchmark at the Asian Games in China in the women's 50m rifle 3 position event.
A Change in Career Path
“Yes (laughing), I could not do justice to attendance and had to drop out of the GGS Medical College in Faridkot, and I shifted my focus to shooting,” said Sift while talking to Free Press Journal from her hotel room in Hangzhou.
While her brother is doing well in medicine, Sift is hitting the bulls eye wherever she goes.
“It was my father who wanted me to study medicine. But now he is happy, as I am doing well in shooting,” she stated.
Sift was juggling between her MBBS studies at the GGS Medical College in Faridkot and the shooting range and in the process had to skip many classes.
"I dropped out from MBBS in March this year. I am currently doing Bachelor of Physical Education and Sports from GNDU in Amritsar," Sift said after winning a historic Asian Games gold in women's 50m rifle 3P event with a world record score.
Humble Background and Backing of Parents
Daughter of a farmer from Faridkot, Punjab, she is blessed to have parents who wanted to see her excel in the shooting range.
The 23-year-old agreed that it was a blessing in disguise for her to take up shooting. “I am happy to make my country proud across the globe”.
Talking about her approach in this event, Sift stated, “I also was looking at the scores for all the three sections. My standing is strong so I knew if I take the lead in the first (prone), I can do very well."
Overcoming Challenges
She along with Ashi Chouksey threw away the silver medal as she fired a poor 8.9 in her last shot, but Samra felt things like this can happen any day, the World University gold medalist said about Wednesday’s outing.
When asked about her Paris Olympic outing, she said. I think small and not big and I am sure if one is enjoying what they are doing should be the mantra to success,” she stated.
Her next outing will be the Asian Championship. I have qualified for the Olympics in Paris, and at the Asian championship, I will participate from out of the team, to gain experience,” signed off the champion.
