India’s pistol stars were made in makeshift range
NEWDELHI: Abhinav Bindra’s gold medal winning feat in the 2008 Beijing Olympics fuelled many ambitions and saw small makeshift 10m ranges mushrooming in various parts of Northern India.
Amit Sheoran, a former state level shooter opened his own shooting range in Baghpat district in 2011 to make a living. He had to borrow ~ 70,000 to put up the range and it was here that Saurabh Chaudhary got his first crash course on professional shooting.
Abhishek Verma, who stood on the podium alongwith gold medallist Saurabh winning bronze in 10m air pistol, is also a product of one such nondescript shooting range in Hisar. Thanks to the passionate coaches in such small centres that talents such as Saurabh and Abhishek are now making India proud.
“Saurabh’s quite demeanour was impressive and he made a rapid improvement,” recollects Sheoran.
“There were only two weapons at my range so shooters had to wait for their turn. They did dry training with either brick or dummy pistol,” he says,
In fact, initially Saurabh used to compete in events with borrowed weapon of his coach and won many medals at district and state level. That convinced the family of Saurabh’s talent.
Nobody in his family was remotely connected to the sport. His father Jagmohan Singh is a farmer in village Kalina in Meerut. “Youngsters in the region generally take up shooting to get a job in the Armed forces through sports quota. Saurabh came to me in 2014 and was very dedicated,” said Sheoran.
Last year, Saurabh wanted his own air pistol and the family had
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Since there were only two weapons at the range, shooters had to wait for their turn and did dry training with either a brick or a dummy pistol.
AMIT SHEORAN, Saurabh’s coach
to borrow money for it. With his meagre source of income through farming, it was a herculean task for his father.
“It cost around ~ 1.75 lakh. The equipment, pellets are costly. We had to borrow money but we managed. We had no knowledge of the sport but Saurabh was adamant. He used to shoot in village fairs. Then we took him to the centre and saw his talent when he started winning medals at state and national level. Since then we have always supported him,” says Saurabh’s elder brother Nitin.
LAW GRADUATE WHO TURNED SHOOTER
For the last 18 months Abhishek, a law graduate, has been based in Gurgaon and has been pursuing his passion.
It was sheer coincidence that Abhishek’s father Ashok Kumar Verma, was transferred to Hisar in December 2014 as district and session judge. A fitness freak, Abhishek regularly attended a gym and it was by chance that he visited a local shooting range, says his mother Kusum.
“My son and his friends just went to see the range and tried their hand at target shooting. Thereafter, he just got inclined to shooting,” she said. “Since he led a disciplined and healthy lifestyle he was quick to make a mark in the sport.”
It was quite challenging for Abhishek, 29, to strike a balance between academics and his passion. “We didn’t interfere in his routine. He often got up early morning to do yoga and then went to college,” Abhishek’s mother said of his devotion. However, success eluded him initially as he finished fifth in Inter university competition.
“We are glad that his hard work has paid off,” said Abhishek’s mother.