Silver lining after a topsy-turvy ride

Life had taken unusual turns for Bangalore shooter Prakash Nanjappa. An accident had forced him to quit rifle shooting but love for the sport made him pick up the pistol. Lack of success forced him to seek greener pastures in Canada but once again the target drew the 38-year-old back to India. On Saturday, it seems, Nanjappa can say things are finally falling into place. In hindsight, leaving an executive’s job and with it a decent pay purse in Canada now makes sense.

Nanjappa won silver in the 10m air pistol event at Glasgow. He could have easily won gold had it not been for one wayward shot (7.7) in the final that saw him surrender the lead to the eventual winner Daniel Repacholi of Australia. Nanjappa aggregated 198.2 points in the final. The Australian finished with 199.5.

“I am happy and disappointed at the same time. I could have won gold,” Nanjappa told HT from Carnoustie, 150km away from Glasgow where the shooting events are taking place. “Now I will focus on the World Championships and hope I will not repeat the mistakes there,” he added.

BLESSING IN DISGUISE Nanjappa’s introduction to the sport was through 50m prone rifle. He won gold in the event at the Karnataka state meet in 1999. But a motorbike accident left him with little option but to quit the rifle. He switched to pistol. “It was a week or so before the Mavlankar Shooting Championship — the qualifiers for the nationals — in 1999, when I meet with an accident and injured my left arm. I couldn’t hold the rifle properly anymore. My father, who is my coach, advised me to take up the pistol and I qualified for the nationals,” he said. “For me, the accident turned out to be a blessing in disguise.”

Nanjappa, however, did not pursue the sport for long; seeking economic stability he shifted to Canada, where he spent five years working for a company. “It was only in Canada that I realised this was not my cup of tea. One day I just decided to pack my bags go back to India. It was in 2009.”

PARALYSIS ATTACK

Even the return was not rosy. Last year during the World Cup in Spain, Nanjappa had to return home without competing after a bout of facial palsy. “I was hospitalised. But it was only because of shooting I had taken so much of risk in life. So, not even for once I was disheartened. I knew my goals very well and my family supported me,” said Nanjappa. Country

England Australia Scotland Canada INDIA G Gold G Total

36 16 40 5 6 19 7 1 5 13 5 7 3 15 S Silver B Bronze * Last updated at 11:30 pm 14 13 8 S 11 11 B 11