CHENNAI: Shooter Niraj Kumar had been longing for an individual medal at the elite level for some time. He had come close a few times but had eventually fallen short of his target. Despite that, he never stopped believing in his abilities and he knew he'd eventually reach his goal. His persistence finally paid off on Wednesday.
The shooter, who hails from a nondescript village in Punjab, captured a bronze medal in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions in the ongoing ISSF World Championships in Doha, Qatar. Consequently, the 26-year-old also earned an Olympic quota for the LA28 Games.
It was a rollercoaster final with most shooters, barring gold winner Dmitrii Pimenov of Russia, guilty of spraying the bullets on numerous occasions and Niraj was one of the strugglers at the early stage — kneeling stage. The rifle 3P, as the name suggests, consists of kneeling, prone and standing. However, Niraj found his range in the prone series — prone is one of his strengths — to climb the ladder before maintaining the podium place in the elimination stages. Niraj, in fact, had a good opportunity to walk away with a silver medal but was pipped by Jany Patrik of Slovakia, who just edged the Indian after a good shot.
Since Patrik (he had already won a quote in 10m air rifle event earlier) was ineligible for quota, World No 1 Jon-Hermann Hegg of Norway, who narrowly missed out on a podium after his fourth-place effort, clinched the third and final quota on offer in the competition. Given that he had been waiting for this occasion for long, Niraj was thrilled with the day's outcome. "It's gradually sinking in. I realise it was quite a big step. It's a great feeling," he told The New Indian Express from Doha.
"I was chasing an individual medal for quite some time. I was starving for this medal. I finally grabbed it. I had high hopes, I had reached the finals, this year and last year but I had never won a medal. To win both (medal and quota), the amount of happiness, words are not enough to express my feeling," he added.
Shooting at the elite level can be harsh. There's no room for complacency at the elite level and the shooters are continuously judged based on their output at various competitions. Despite misses in the past, Niraj never lost hope and said that his wife, friends and family have played a key role in his career so far. "My close circle — wife, friends and family — had plenty of faith in me. They always knew that I could do something productive. That positive environment used to give me that much-needed push," the Navyman said.
"My wife also pushes me a lot. Even if I lose, she'll say 'no worries, it's just one match, you'll win eventually'. I kept gaining experience one step at a time and I also gradually had the belief that 'some day I'll win a medal' and that day finally arrived."
The more-acclaimed Aishwary Pratap Singh just couldn't find his rhythm and was forced to wait for his chance to grab a quota after finishing fifth. Interestingly, Niraj, who hails from Beh Mawa village in Hoshiarpur district (Punjab), got the bug for the sport by joining NCC in school and said that he used to watch Aishwary and other senior players' videos on YouTube during his budding days in the sport.
"I joined NCC on father's insistence so that it will be a perfect platform to join the Army. If you get an NCC certificate, you have a direct interview and there's no exam. There I got introduced to shooting. That's where I got to know about the sport."
His coaches at the Navy, National Centre of Excellence (Delhi) and national camp have helped him rise to a different level. "I started by watching YouTube videos. I used to watch Swapnil (Kusale) bhaiya (brother), Aishwary and Akhil (Sheoran) bhaiya. I used to watch their finals. Watching them I gradually built myself, learnt the techniques and after entering the senior team, Thomas (Farnik) sir and Manoj (Kumar) sir have been highly supportive. In terms of technique, they have learnt a great deal from them."
Having finally achieved his long-awaited dream, Niraj will be hoping to use this performance as a springboard for more medals in the days to come.
