How Mehuli Ghosh battled depression to shoot down World Cup gold

Mehuli, who won a gold and silver in the team event in 10m Air Rifle Mixed final at the ongoing World Cup in Changwon, South Korea, suffered a serious setback some years back due to a freak accident and battled for years to get her career back on track. In 2015, at a training session at the Serampore Rifle Club in West Bengal, she misfired a shot, which hit one of the employees in the leg. Mehuli was suspended by the federation and wasn't able to take part in competitive shooting for some years after that, which pushed her into depression.

Everything was going well for Mehuli before that unfortunate incident. At that point, she had no option but to pack her rifle and her shooting gear. She found it difficult to cope with the bizarre situation, but her mother Mitali could not see her daughter suffer so much, she had to find a solution.

She realised that her daughter had developed a mental block which would eventually destroy her life. She contacted renowned mental health coach Mreenal Chakraborty and results started to show almost immediately. "It was an extremely difficult phase of our lives, especially for Mehuli.

She was only 15 when that unfortunate incident happened. She lacked the maturity to handle such a shocking development. She was suspended by the federation and went into depression.

Mehuli was unsure of picking up the rifle again as she lacked confidence. She would express her anxiety to me, but I was determined to get her back on the shooting range. My daughter is immensely talented and I couldn't let her career get ruined just because of a freak accident," Mitali told TOI on Thursday.

"I could figure out that mentally she wasn't the same person. I contacted Mreenal da and he assured me of help. I am thankful