Vidarsa K Vinod competes at the Asian Games in Toyota, Nagoya
She is set to compete in the women’s 10m air rifle, women’s 50m rifle 3 positions, and women’s 50m rifle 3 positions team events. Vinod added that he is hopeful Vidarsa will win medals in her remaining events as well.
After winning a silver medal for India in the 10m Air Rifle Team event at the 2026 Asian Games alongside Elavenil Valarivan and Sonam Maskar, Vidarsa remained humble. Vidarsa first picked up a rifle through the National Cadet Corps in 2018. Because of her determination and hard work,” said Vinod, a small-scale building contractor, whatever she is today is.
Vinod said Vidarsa’s husband, Manu S Ravi, played a major role in shaping her shooting career. “When Vidarsa first told us about buying a gun, we were stunned. Now that she is performing well on the international circuit, all those struggles feel meaningful,” Vinod said. “Now I want to see my daughter win an Olympic medal,” he added. That was when I realised how far my daughter had come,” he said.
Kochi: Vidarsa K Vinod has always credited her family for supporting her journey as an international shooter. As the first woman shooter from Kerala to win an Asian Games medal, she thanked her parents and husband for encouraging her and helping her reach the top. However, her father, KD Vinod, believes all the credit belongs to Vidarsa’s hard work. “We don’t deserve any credit for her achievements. We are a simple family and we don’t know anything about guns. How could we have helped her in her career? Vidarsa’s mother is a homemaker, while her only brother is pursuing an MBA at the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram. Manu is also a shooting coach in Thiruvananthapuram. Hailing from Kerala’s Kozhikode district, her initial ambitions were modest. She wanted to experience the sport and hoped it might eventually help her secure a government job. In her early years, she trained with borrowed equipment. We did not know how we would manage the expense. But somehow, we arranged it. He admitted the family had not expected a medal in the team event. “We were hoping for a medal in her individual event, but the team silver came as a surprise. In fact, I was at the temple when the news came. At first, I couldn’t understand the magnitude of her achievement and didn’t react much. But later, wherever I went, people were talking about Vidarsa and the Asian Games silver.