Learn to pull that trigger

SHOOTING RANGE

A few names making the rounds in the sports fraternity besides M S Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar are Gagan Narang and Vijay Kumar. The shooters have made India proud by bringing home medals in Olympics and Commonwealth Games.

It is encouraging to see how India is emerging from the shadows of cricket and trying to make a mark in other sports – specifically shooting, since the likes of Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Abhinav Bindra who won laurels for the country. Helping interested sports persons is SportsCraftz, a club which is actively involved in the promotion of shooting as a sport, mainly the 10 metre airgun with calibre .177. Ten metre shooting is the most popular form of the sport worldwide.

The club comprises enthusiasts ranging from kids to youngsters to adults keen on learning how to pull that trigger. They are guided in their efforts by expert coaches certified by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), in accordance with the rules and regulations laid down by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF). T
he club’s aim is to train students who can be developed into world class shooters.

Vipen Vig, co-partner at SportzCraft shares how this sport is getting popular. “Everybody cannot be a cricketer in India. Shooting has also become popular because of the number of medals we have won. Right now we are training nearly 350 students, of which 250 are children. This shows that people are taking up this sport seriously now.”

This privately run setup is the only one to be certified by the NRAI and boasts state-of-the-art facilities including rifles and pistols of international standards.

But isn’t shooting an expensive sport? “It is not expensive. We charge only Rs 1200 for 12 classes in a month, which is nothing because we aim to promote. People like Gagan Narang and Vijay Kumar who are associated with NRAI often comes to encourage these children. Once a student has shown the potential of becoming a good shooter, only then is he advised to buy uniforms and respective pistols and
rifles.”

Are girls equally interested in the sport? Vipen shares, “Twenty-five per cent are girls. Personally, I find girls better shooters as they have more patience, are grounded and possess more concentration.”

The only drawback the sport is facing is a space crunch. “In India we only have 40-50 shooting ranges as compared to other nations which have hundreds. We need plots for that and the government needs to support us. If given proper infrastructure, this game can become bigger than cricket.”

One of the club’s top shooters, Parth Makhija, a Std VII student, says, “I want to join the Army and that is why I have joined this class.” Wasn’t he interested in cricket? “Cricket mein hota kya hai? Match-fixing hoti hai. Koi Dhoni ko kuch lakh de dega or cup le jaaega? Kya fayeda? On the other hand, shooting is an individual sport.”