NEW DELHI: Most youngsters at the age of 16 love spending time with friends with quite a few career choices in mind but yet to zero in on a definite one. Anish Bhanwala is not in the same mould.
He already holds the record for being the youngest Indian to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal at the age of 15, a feat he achieved in Gold Coast last year. Now the boy from Karnal, Haryana, has his sights firmly on securing a Tokyo Olympics berth in 25m rapid fire when the Indian shooting contingent lands in Rio for the last World Cup of the season.
“That’s my main aim now. I’m fully focussed on the job at hand and I want to let my pistol do the talking,” he told TNIE. Something quite reminiscent to his WhatsApp status: Winners don’t wait for chances, they take them. Incidentally, It will be the last World Cup offering Olympic quota places, after which quota places will be available only in the Asian Championships.
Till now, Anjum Moudgil, Apurvi Chandela, Saurabh Chaudhary, Abhishek Verma, Divyansh Singh Panwar, Rahi Sarnobat and Manu Bhaker have won Olympic quota places for the country.
Before he heads out for Rio, Anish clinched gold in the Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany, but he himself admits that he did not participate there with the intention of winning a medal. “I had gone there with the intention of improving my score. A gold feels great obviously and it was a bonus.” Anish had also taken part in the XII Sardar Sajjan Singh Sethi Memorial Masters Shooting meet, where he won bronze in 25m standard pistol.
Lives of athletes change drastically post winning an international medal. But Anish says everything has gone back to normal. “Initially, there was quite a lot of hype. But now it is back to normal. I never felt like a star. I just want to concentrate on giving my best when I grab my gun.”
People will be surprised to know that Anish does not have many friends. Because of his shooting commitments, he has hardly attended school. In turn, he has never had the luxury of making friends. “Fellow players in the national camp are my friends. Outside, I do not socialise much. It is not an issue for me.”
Staying positive is one of his strongest suits. And that trait enables him to not take too much pressure upon himself. “If you train hard and you are confident of your own abilities, nothing should faze you. Results can vary but hard work will eventually see you through,” he signed off.