The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : City celebrates Olympic gold

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Tuesday, Aug 12, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

City celebrates Olympic gold

Staff Reporter

Abhinav Bindra’s feat has enthused shooters in the city

Bangalore: It seems the talk across cubicles in offices, in the drawing rooms, queues, restaurants, lounges and at cigarette and teashops. The Gold.

The first ever individual Olympic gold won at Beijing by 26-year-old Abhinav Bindra in the 10-metre air rifle event in the men’s category.

This has only heightened the level of enthusiasm in watching the Olympics as India goes from being the usually described “country with great potential” to a firmly imprinted evidence of the same.

Says Rajesh Jagadale, Secretary of the State Rifle Association: “India has been performing very well in the shooting events over the past few years. Lots of Karnataka shooters show great potential as well and this has only enthused existing shooters. It is definitely a matter of pride.”

Two young promising shooters who have incidentally had some interaction with Mr. Bindra over the last few months are brothers Rajesh M. and Rakesh M.

Rakesh (17), a national-level air rifle shooter, is now in the second place in the “Under-18” men’s category and began training three years ago when he enrolled himself into the State Rifle Association.

“I would email Abhinav Bindra about my training. He was supportive and friendly after he determined how serious I was about this,” he said. Rakesh, who is qualifies in second position in the 50-metre third position event and 50-metre prone (or lying down) position, is hopeful. “Mr. Bindra started out at the age of 13, he completed his first Olympic event at 16 — I think he deserved this medal.”

His brother Rajesh, under whose influence Rakesh took to shooting, is 24 and was exposed to competitive shooting at 19. “Both Gagan Narang and Abhinav Bindra have put immense confidence into shooters like us. We can look forward to lots more medals now,” he says.

Mr. Bindra’s father, A.S. Bindra, who spoke to The Hindu correspondent in Chandigarh, says that his son practised shooting for seven hours every day, and did other exercises for about two hours.

An industrialist who supplies meat and mushrooms out of Punjab, the senior Mr. Bindra has facilitated his son with an in-house air-conditioned shooting range in their sprawling farmhouse 15 km from Chandigarh.

Young Bindra is already a poster boy for many sport enthusiasts in the city. Stephen Jude Noah, who plays for a football club, says it is a definite accomplishment for India and is hoping to see more such achievements, hopefully through the course of the 2008 Olympics itself.

“I really want to watch the soccer matches and the sprint events,” he says.

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