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Amit Sanghi is upbeat over the forthcoming World Cup events in Rome and Italy
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LOOKING AHEAD Amit Sanghi is all set to take a shot
Amit Sanghi of Hyderabad recently earned the distinction of being selected to represent India in the skeet shooting events of the World Cup shooting championship to be held at Rome and later also in the World shooting championship at Lonato (Italy) which are to be held back to back, between May 16 and May 31. So far no Indian has got a world ranking in skeet according to Amit and his main objective right now is to earn that ranking before thinking of winning a medal. If he succeeds, which seems quite likely, it will be another feather in the cap for this shooter from Hyderabad. This will be his first official world Cup participation.
"However, the level of competition, both at the World Cup and also at the World championship will be very tough," says Amit. "Several other countries such as the host Italy, Cyprus, Australia, England and Canada have very good shooters. In particular the Italian shooters who will be competing under familiar conditions will be very tough to beat," says Amit.
"But this is a sport where nothing can be predicted. Even a hot favourite may not be able to win. On any given day, in any competition the winner could emerge from any of the top 20 ranked competitors in the fray," he explains.
"I am at present chalking up scores in the range of 119 to 121. Recently at the Commonwealth championships in Australia the medal went for 120. And some of those who took part in the Commonwealth championships will also be taking part in the two meets in Italy. So there is a chance for me," he says. "The minimum qualifying score to be eligible for the Olympic Games is 114," adds Amit.
That at least should be well within his grasp. His coach Juan Giha of Peru says that Amit's credit lies in the fact that he has come up to international standards in only two years as compared to periods of six to eight years that most shooters need. Giha feels that with the talent and facilities that exist in Hyderabad, the city could soon become India's major centre for shooting.
Of late several shooters from AP such as Amit Sanghi, Gagan Narang, Pooja Reddy, Darius Chenai and Asher Noria had done well at the international level. Amit Sanghi hopes that the government and private companies would come forward to give more support to the shooters since they had been getting results consistently and had proven their abilities at the international level.
Clearly this is a sport, which is on an upswing in Hyderabad. The onus now rests upon the government and private organisations, who profess to have a love and commitment for sport and its development, to provide the right inputs at the right time.
ABHIJIT SEN GUPTA
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