WORLD CLASS SHOOTER GAGAN NARANG IS GOING GREAT GUNS!
GAGAN NARANG IS AN EXTREMELY TALENTED SHOOTER AND DID THE COUNTRY PROUD RECENTLY BY CREATING TWO WORLD RECORDS TO CLAIM THE 10-METER AIR RIFLE TITLE AT THE FINALS OF THE WORLD CUP IN BANGKOK, THAILAND. THIS HYDERABADI SHOT A PERFECT 600 OUT OF 600 IN THE PRELIMINARY PHASE TO EQUAL THE WORLD RECORD JOINTLY HELD BY TAVARIT AND DENIS SOKOLOV OF RUSSIA.
“I was in full form after my loss at the Olympics. I wanted to win because I narrowly missed the medal in Beijing. The fire was burning brighter than ever after missing the medal by just one point,” the 25-year-old gushes with pride. “I was motivated and driven by the fact that I missed the medal at the Olympics in which India would have won two medals in shooting instead of one. Nevertheless, I have come back stronger,” he continues.
“I did my best in the world cup tournament. I was in top form and also broke the earlier world record,” he declares proudly. There are only three people in the world who have done this and both of them have broken the record at the Asian and European championships. But Gagan had to compete with top players at the world event! Incidentally, Gagan is the third in the world and the first Indian to equal a world record, and also create a new world record.
The journey to success for this middle class youngster was not easy. His parents had to sell a plot of land to buy his first rifle. Gagan started shooting when he was only 14, and he attributes the credit of his success to his parents, team mates like Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Samresh Jung, and Air India, where he is an assistant manager. Recently Gold Quest, a foundation run by Prakash Padukone, Geet Sethi and a few other corporates decided to sponsor him till 2012. Gratefully he says, “When no other company came forth, they saw the talent in me and actually helped me during this championship.”
Unlike Abhinav Bindra who was trained by a personal coach, and also had a mental and physical trainer, Gagan has worked his way up. It is a known fact that Abhinav had financial support from the government besides his family. Unfortunately, in spite of Gagan’s great achievements there has been no response from the central or state government, not even a congratulatory note from them. The Shooting Federation of India had personally congratulated him though.
Not the kind to get deterred by such situations, Gagan clarifies, “Every athlete is playing a sport because of self motivation. The effort the government puts in the system is either not effective or not as per their plans. Ultimately, the government wants to do much more but somehow the energy that comes down to these sportspersons saps out because somewhere something goes wrong. Things can be much better in our country but I don’t know why it is not so.
We need the Sports Authority of India to be headed by a person who is a bureaucrat and a sportsperson. The bureaucrat will not know what the sport is like unless he takes personal interest but he has to handle so many other things.” What went wrong at the Olympics? Comes the prompt reply, “I was fit during the games but maybe with a bit of luck I would have made it. Abhinav Bindra had 597 and I got 596 along with 4 other shooters.”
He expresses his sadness, “I had already shot three good shots 10/10 each and was very sure I would continue. You tend to get disturbed with small things like financial assistance that could have helped one perform better. A mental trainer and physical trainer also would have given me a boost.”
He continues, “For 2012, I need to plan right now and I can do it only if I have the finance. And that does not happen so easily. Everything in India is done short term. They will not allow me to plan from now as they feel that I may not be able to perform and it would be a waste of money. I have to prove myself time and again. I find that I am only proving myself all the time and not training anymore. Where am I improving?”
His coach, Laszlo Szucsak, a Hungarian, has been appointed by the government for the Indian team, and that would mean not much personal attention. “I do not have a personal coach as it is very expensive. It would mean paying him Rs 20,000 per day besides accommodation. I am happy with the present national coach but he cannot accompany me when I go for other tournaments though I would be representing the country.”
According to him, “I spend around Rs four to five lakh without hiring a foreign coach and a mental trainer. Otherwise it would be about Rs 15 to 20 lakh per year to have a mental trainer, personal coach and physical trainer.” Gagan is training for atleast 10 out of 12 months and that is 300 days of training. Each day of training entails ammunition costs of around Rs 10,000 excluding the expenses on the coach.
About the role of mental trainer, he explains, “Shooting is a mental sport and has lot of mental stress. For each event we need a mental trainer to prepare us. The mind has to be in proper shape. Once our plan goes wrong it becomes a nerve wrecking experience. Mental training helps one to accept conditions so we programme ourselves to focus on technique, besides concentrating on breathing,” and adds, “Thanks to Gold Quest, I was trained after the Beijing disappointment as I was down, and my mind was cluttered.”
As Gagan works with Air India, his travel has always been taken care of. The Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh and the Sports Authority of India take care of the sportspersons’ needs only when they represent the country as a team.
“But one needs to take part in more competitions for exposure and there I usually spend from my pocket,” he says. He strongly feels that there is not much hype for the sport, “Shooting, as a sport is not spectator friendly and is not promoted as a sport. It has to be projected in a better way and we need to have managers to sell the sport.”
This unassuming shooter has won the Arjuna Award and is a champion in his own right since the last three to four years.Nevertheless, the sport has taught Gagan to handle success and accept defeat with grace. He says, “Air rifle shooting is more of a mental sport which involves hitting the bull’s eye placed 10 metre away, to secure a perfect 10/10. Here, one is pitted against oneself.
Also, an important lesson that I have learnt is, when one attains a certain level in the sport, one must learn to be content and satisfied.” Gagan advises, “Do not push your
limit in search of something better in terms of technique or technology, particularly before a competition. This may ruin what one is already good at. I have overcome this tendency.”
When he is not shooting with his rifle, Gagan is shooting with his camera instead. The champ even specialises in 50-metre prone and 50-metre three position matches. He’s won the silver medal at the Asian Championship and the bronze medal at the Asian Games. His recent addition is a Big Bore which is 300-metre. Gagan declares with extreme confidence, “My world record is the best so far but my best is yet to come.” Point noted.
*Courtesy: Society
