HYDERABAD: At 12, every boy’s dream would be to own a toy gun or a remote car. For Kynan Chenai, who actually lives up to the adage, ‘Dream big, aim high!’ it was a real gun and a real sport. Having born to National Shooting Champion Darius Chenai, Kynan wanted to follow his dad’s yellow brick road and he did by participating in the national championship at 14 and international by 15.
Instantly mesmerised by the sport, Kynan, without any forethought ventured into the game and there has been no looking back. “It all started when I was as young as 12, my dad and I would go to the shooting range. My dad introduced me to this sport and I fell in love with it. Later when I started shooting higher scores, is when it became an obsession to hit as many clays as I can,” he beams with a wide smile.Kynan talks shooting, walks shooting and shooting is not a ‘phunny’ sport. “It runs in my blood and I can do nothing but shooting. Even while I am eating and sleeping, I am thinking of shooting and it gets a bit crazy for people around me but he ones who are close to me know how to deal with it now,” he laughs out loud.
Kynan is now training in Italy under the supervision of Marcello Dradi, the Indian Shooting team coach. “I am practicing hard for the Olympics. I train for five hours and work out for two to three hours. August doesn’t seem too far now,” he shares.
Kynan, a true Hyderabadi says, “Hyderabad is my home , born and brought up ! It’s a special place for me. A lot of memories and lot of love towards the city. It feels extremely proud to be a Hyderabadi representing India at the Olympics.”
Shooting is not a cake walk. Challenges are umpteen and Kynan says he is working hard to overcome all the shortcoming. “ I am working on my performance consistently on a high level. Lifestyle gets tougher, when we change ourselves as professional shooters. Travelling all over the year gets hectic as well. When there is immense love for the sport, these issues seem petty. Larger picture is ‘I love to shoot!’” he exclaims.Though Kynan has lot of accolades in his bag, the biggest is win according to him is bagging the quota place at the last Olympic qualifying event held in Delhi .“Representing your country in such a huge competition is what every athlete dreams of and I am just honoured and proud that I get that chance and also the chance to live one of my dreams. It is a responsibility that my country has given to me and I am going make the best of it. My family is my biggest support. They stand by me through thick and thin and that’s what has made a huge difference in my shooting,” he beams.This passionate shooter majored in Sports Science from London. If not a shooter, he would have loved to do something in the field of sports science and maybe develop a Olympic training Center for athletes in India .Ask him about his future, pat comes the reply, “The Olympic Games Rio is the future for me right now , then the next one in Tokyo 2020.”
A person with zeal will never bother about success or failure. All that matters is experience. “I learn from every experience and move on to the next competition to do better,” he smiles.“Being able to compete at the highest levels, especially on global grounds is the greatest experiences one can have in my sport. I extract different lessons from different competitions, in order to learn and perform to the best of my abilities,” he concludes.
