THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Beating the odds has always been Sidhartha Babu’s favourite hobby. The wheelchair bound from the capital was paralysed waist-below following a road accident in 2002, but he is deemed one of the best in the country when it comes to the sport of shooting.
He proved as much this week by winning a gold medal in the 60th National Shooting Championship organised by the National Rifle Association of India in Pune. Sidhartha’s win came in the 50 metre rifle prone in the para category as he amassed a tally of 609.9 points on the way to glory.
What makes his achievement all the more impressive is that the paraplegic shooter had competed with mainstream shooters and had emerged as the state champion in the 49th Kerala state shooting championship held at Muttom, Idukki back in August. He then went on to win a bronze medal in the south zone shooting championships and emerged at an impressive 41st position among 327 shooters at the national championships in Pune. He was ranked 19th among civilian shooters and first among para shooters earning him a call to the national trials.
“It has been a good competition for me. I could collect the most points for a Kerala shooter in the prone category. Now, the national trials will be another good platform for me to compete against some of the top shooters in the country,” said Sidhartha on Monday.
Having made his mark at the national level once again, Sidhartha is now preparing for the 2017 World Shooting Para Sports World Cup scheduled to be held from February 22 to 27, 2017 in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. “I had improved my world ranking to 20th at the World Cups last year.
This year, I hope to make it even better starting from Al Ain,” the shooter said. Sidhartha was in the news in 2015 after he was denied entry into the 35th National Games held in Kerala along with mainstream shooters. However, since then, NRAI has given him permission to compete in the prone category where the shooters lie flat with chest down and back up. He has competed in five International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Shooting World Cups and is currently ranked 20th in the world among paralympic shooters.