Now, small towns too aim for glory

MUMBAI:India cricket coach Greg Chappell believes the next lot of superstars will emerge from the interior parts of the country, rather than the metros, as has mostly been the case so far.

A similar trend might be in the offing in shooting. At the ongoing 10th Captain Ezekiel Memorial Shooting Championships for novices here, around 270 participants are vying for the honours. It is estimated that 40 to 45 percent of the competitors belong to Aurangabad, Pune, Kolhapur, Bhusaval, Dhulia, Pachora and Jalgaon.

Shooting is slowly taking roots in these towns, thanks to a fascination for the guns and a variety of other factors, despite the fact that no shooting event is covered live. It is an expensive sport, especially if one pursues it professionally, but that doesn’t seem to deter people from these areas, most of whom belong to average or below-average income level strata of the society.

Jalgaon, for example, is represented by a strong 28-member squad. Two boys, Milind Devre, 19, and Kunal Sharma,16, that DNA spoke to, revealed that shooting was becoming increasingly popular in their hometown.

“The membership of our club, the Jalgaon District Rifle Association, is increasing by the day. We were always attracted to guns. Now a lot of youngsters like us want to be professional shooters,” they said.

Both Devre and Sharma have taken to air rifle shooting, which would cost them close to Rs 10,000 per month, if they decide to pursue it seriously. “My father took a loan for buying me the outfit of a rifle shooter, which costs at least Rs 10,000,” says Devre, adding that his family has always been extremely supportive of his choice, despite the high expenses involved.

Sandeep Tarte, an international-level shooter, is a product of Krida Prabhodhan, a Kolhapur-based state-run sports academy.

“My academy has started producing international-level shooters regularly. In Kolhapur, shooting has received a major boost, thanks to local girl Tejaswini Sawant’s double-gold medal-winning feat in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games,” Tarte says.

In fact, shooting is one sport where there is no dearth of role models in the country, thanks to Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Anjali Bhagwat and Samresh Jung, each of whom have shown that Indians aren’t just to make up the numbers at the international level.

“Yes, the stupendous feats of our shooters since the 90s are inspiring enough,” says Ronak Pandit, another gold-winner at the Melbourne Games. Pandit believes that “soon, it is not the metros, but the smaller, semi-rural areas that will produce champion shooters.”

“The metros will reach a saturation point,” he says, while disagreeing with the fact that shooting can be an expensive sport.

“In small towns, just a small number of people can start a shooting club. One pallet costs just 60 paise. A training session doesn’t cost more than Rs 30. You don’t need to buy a gun until you reach a very high level. Any investment to buy equipment is a once-in-a-lifetime investment, for which top shooters get assistance. Shooting isn’t that expensive,” he summarises.

However, most of the shooting enthusiasts from small towns are opting for rifle, rather than pistol events, despite the former being more expensive.

“Rifles are freely available in small towns. One can find then easily at home or in the markets. When they become shooters, they just need to switch from a lethal firearm to a sporting one,” says Sheela Kanungo, vice-president of the Maharashtra Rifle Association.

India has already made significant strides in shooting. As the sport becomes more accessible to the masses, the results can be even more thrilling. And that could be the best part of it all.