The achievements of Kolhapuri women shooters is inspiring Pune as well.
PUNE Updated: Oct 17, 2018 14:35 IST
There is a specific medal-winning pattern emerging. Women shooters from Kolhapur take up the sport, achieve some level of proficiency and then move to Pune.
Better facilities in Pune allow for better training and higher levels of competition. From Pune, these women shooters gun-on to major international glory for India.
Rahi Sarnobat won gold at this year’s Asian Games in Indonesia in the women’s 25m pistol event.
Tejaswini Sawant, women’s 50m rifle prone, won gold at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia.
These medals are apart from victories at major International shooting sport federation (ISSF) events.
While Sarnobat and Sawant, both Kolhapur women who moved to Pune to further their shooting careers have struck gold, they are inspiring a new generation of women shooters to follow suit.
Anushka Patil (10m air pistol), is a 15-year-old from Kolhapur, already has two international ISSF gold medals under her belt. Patil travels to Pune to train.
Then there is Pune’s own Abhidnya Patil, who did the country proud at last month’s ISSF world championships in Changwon, South Korea, returning home with a bronze medal in the mixed team event of the 10m air pistol. Now training at Gun For Glory in Pune, the 19-year-old has slowly started to emerge in the public eye as Indian shooting’s next big thing.
The evidence seems self-evident; if you are a woman shooter from western Maharashtra, chances are the Kolhapur-Pune link is part of the story.
The 28-year-old Rahi Sarnobat explains: For Kolhapur, shooting is not a new concept. When I started shooting, there were already seven to eight international shooters that were from the city. In Kolhapur we also have a tradition of being with weapons, as in almost all houses we have weapons, like swords. Also, the Arjuna Award I received is the fifth one for Kolhapur. It is absolutely not a new thing for us to be involved with shooting.”
Then came the move to Pune, which was inevitable. “There isn’t any other range for 25m except Pune. I trained in Worli, Mumbai, before moving to Pune. I have been here ever since 2009,” says Sarnobat.
Tejaswini Sawant (3 CWG gold medals, 3 silver medals and 2 bronze medals), says: “It’s a part of tradition in Kolhapur. People are encouraged to take up sports, shooting being one of them. I think the level of determination in people from Kolhapur is very high and they are also supported by their family. ”
“A lot of shooters are coming to Pune because at Balewadi, the range is one of Asia’s best shooting ranges and there is accommodation less than a km from the stadium, so it eliminates the time and cost factor in terms of commuting. Facilities like gymnasiums and swimming pools are also provided. I have been here since 2008,” Sawant adds.
Sheila Kanungo, general secretary, Maharashtra rifle association, and ex-coach of Rahi Sarnobat, says, “I’ve heard this from Rahi and many other shooters that there’s a big sports culture in Kolhapur. Even now we have a lot of shooters coming from Kolhapur. They want to do well in sports as well and not just focus on their academic excellence, which is not the mindset that most of the country has.”
Anushka Patil (10m air pistol), the 15-year-old from Kolhapur, says, “I was a yoga state champion. My sports teacher in school saw that my levels of concentration were high and told me to take up shooting. I joined Gun for Glory.” Gun for Glory is the shooting academy started by India’s shooting ace Gagan Narang.
The fledgling from Kolhapur has already represented India in four international events and already has two gold medals in the 9th Asian Air Gun Championships, Iran 2016 and ISSF World Championships, Germany 2018. Domestically, as expected, her medal tally is far more impressive as she has amassed a total of 35 gold, eight sliver, and five bronze medals at the state and national level.
Like Sarnobat and Sawant, Patil comes to Pune to train at Gun For Glory. Explaining the challenges she faces travelling regularly at such an early age, she says, “Whenever I come here, I stay as a paying guest. I haven’t really thought of moving to Pune permanently yet, because it is not possible for my parents to shift. I’m also only 15 yet, so as of now it is difficult to shift to a new city and stay alone.”
The achievements of Kolhapuri women shooters is inspiring Pune as well. City girl Abhidnya Patil is an SYBA student from Bharati Vidyapeeth who is taking the Gun For Glory route in Pune.
Speaking about her recent medal achievements she says: “It was my second international (ISSF, September 2018), but yes, the experience of travelling abroad was a learning curve and winning a medal for your country was great. I’m constantly looking to improve myself.”
Finally, Gagan Narang, one India’s foremost shooters and the man behind the training academy Gun for Glory, believes years of hard work is finally paying off.
“I am still pursuing the sport, now over two decades, so, I am generally aware of the best practices and latest technical knowhow which is passed on to coaches and students. This was not the case few years back and is definitely helping current Indian shooters; not only at the national level, but also at the state level. We work on elite training at grassroots level,” says Narang.
That grassroots level in Maharashtra is clearly emerging as the Kolhapur-Pune connect, aiming now for Olympic gold.
Pranav Shahney
Posted by Thom Erik Syrdahl
Source:- Hindustan Times, Pune
Pranav Shahney
Posted by Thom Erik Syrdahl
Source:- Hindustan Times, Pune
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