Shooting high: Fourteen-year-old bags gold medal

Fourteen-year-old Subhash Chintalapati has bagged the Gold medal at the South Zone Skeet Shooting Competition 2016. This ninth grader from Oakridge International School, won the medal in the clay pigeon skeet shooting category, and is now prepping up to represent Telangana at the national level championship at Jaipur in November.

Subhash, who qualified as a renowned shooter with license to import his own gun and ammunition, surprisingly began shooting only a year ago, since until then, the multi-talented kid was winning medals for the country, playing basketball. “I enjoyed playing basketball. However, my grandfather was into shooting, and I found it interesting. Though it’s not a well-known sport here, it’s a lot of fun. I think the popularity of the sport is now rising, as compared to 10 years back. My brother has also begun shooting,” informs Subhash.

The young lad has a lot of support from his parents. “My mother comes with me everywhere — she takes me for training and has been my support system,” he says.

Along with excelling in sports, Subhash is good at academics as well. “The best part is that my grades are pretty good, too,” he asserts, proudly. “The school has also been supportive. One must practise every day to be good at shooting, it cannot happen overnight. Moreover, it’s important to be mentally stable. Shooting can be quite challenging, but then every sport has its own challenges,” he adds.
Talking about the upcoming national level championship, he says, “I’m honestly trying to get better, so I’ve been practising hard. Since the match is in Jaipur, I’m trying to get used to the shooting range there. The ranges are different at different places, and that can be challenging.”

Subhash is now focussing only at the national level, hoping to represent India at the international level. “My aim right now is to get to the top 10 in the nationals,” he says.

Throwing light upon his idea of relaxing: “I like summer coaching camps. I also like the Model United Nations (MUN) conferences that are organised by my school. I like to watch television but then, honestly, there is no time!” he smiles.