KOZHIKODE: Long before the bright lights of the Asian Games and the celebration of a silver medal, Vidarsa K Vinod was simply a young shooter standing at a firing range in Kozhikode, learning to steady her rifle and trust her aim. The range was modest, the surroundings far removed from the international arenas where she would eventually compete, but it was there that an important part of her journey began.
On Sunday, when one of the club’s former trainees stood on the Asian Games podium in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, as part of India’s silver-winning women’s 10m air rifle team, the moment also became a proud chapter in the story of the Calicut Rifle Club, functioning under the Kozhikode District Rifle Association — an institution that has spent more than five decades nurturing shooters, away from the national spotlight.
Vidarsa, a native of Thiruvambady in Kozhikode, became the first Malayali woman shooter to win an Asian Games medal after teaming up with Elavenil Valarivan and Sonam Masker to help India clinch silver with a score of 1,898.0 points.
The story of the club goes back to 1970, to a time when the country was still conscious of the security concerns that had emerged after the Chinese war. A civilian training programme was initiated as part of efforts to create what was then envisioned as a third line of defence. In Kozhikode, the programme took shape through the initiative of the district administration and police authorities, with the district collector and the police commissioner among those associated with the formation of the camp committee.
The institution that began as the Calicut Rifle Club eventually evolved into the Kozhikode District Rifle Association. Gradually, it transformed into a sporting institution where school students, NCC cadets, and adults could learn rifle and pistol shooting.
Now, the association has around 140 student members and 260 adult members. There are shooters in their seventies who continue to remain part of the club, alongside children beginning their shooting journey from as young as 11.
Vidarsa came to the club in 2018 through the NCC as the latter did not have weapons available for her training at the time. What happened next would eventually become an important chapter in the club’s history. The late Darris Marshall, who was closely associated with the institution and was the managing trustee of the Parsi Anju Amman Baug Trust, donated two high-end rifles for training.
The weapons included top-end KK 500 rifles. Marshall also contributed an electronic target system.For a young shooter beginning her journey, access to such equipment was significant. Those rifles became part of Vidarsa’s early training.
People at the association remember that she arrived with something more than talent. “From the beginning itself, she had a professional vision and mission,” Abijith Shabarish, the secretary of the Kozhikode District Rifle Association, told TNIE. Vidarsa’s husband Manu S Ravi was himself a student shooter at the club.
In 2023, the club had around 15 students. By 2025, it had increased to 26. Behind that progress is a coaching system that has gradually become more structured. Chief coach and instructor Vipin Das, associated with the Sports Council, joined in 2023. Former Asian Games medallist P T Raghunath, pistol coach Anoop, Naveen P R and international medallist Biji V are among the coaches associated with the training system. Raghunath has also been associated with the Indian Navy and has an Asian Games medal to his name.
Thus, Vidarsa’s medal is not the first connection between the Kozhikode rifle association and continental success. But it has arrived at a time when the club is witnessing a new generation of shooters coming through.
