bhopal firstyear mbbs student sift kaur samra won her first individual world cup medal on sunday as her family watched with pride from the gallery at the issf tournament in bhopal for the 22yearold the podium finish came on the back of a very tough decision choosing between two targets her education and her passionthe tournament dates clashed with her firstyear mbbs exams she says she requested her college to hold the exams separately for her so that she could represent the nation but it was turned down asked to choose between the scalpel and her rifle she chose the sport and ill stick to my guns till the 2024 olympics she told toisamra shot her way to a bronze in the womens 50m rifle 3position taking indias medal tally to seven and ensuring second place for the countryher happiness is tinged with concern for her mbbs though that she cracked neet while keeping her sights on the bullseye is exemplary but juggling the two proved toughi am not able to manage shooting with mbbs before coming here i requested my college to hold separate exams for me but they refused they went on suggesting that i should repeat the first year said samra a student of government ggs medical college faridkot punjabi met a couple of ministers and other influential people to help me but to no avail said samra who is the first shooter in her familyshe said she was about to quit the sport last year after being selected for mbbs i had made up my mind to give up shooting however a national championship was being held in bhopal so i told myself ill call it quits after the tournament i set a national record and life changed i realised that i should not leave shooting said samraso what of her medical course i havent thought about it i have no idea whether my college will consider me for a separate exam i do not know what will happen about my academics she said adding in the same breath i have set my sights on the next olympics ill give mbbs a thought only after thatthe punjab girl does not like pistols its rifles for heron sunday as the reigning national champion samra began on a strong note in the qualification of the womens 3p with 588 points securing the second spot after chinas zhang qiongyue 594 samra displayed excellent consistency in the finals to secure a bronze after she shot 4039 in the topeight ranking round zhang defeated aneta brabcova of the czech republic 168 for the goldsamra said that it was a big day for her i have played world cups and have been a regular part of the indian team but there was no individual medal to my name today i have made it and i am happy