Firearm fanatics!

You want to hit what you are aiming at! Rifle is mounted firmly, you have checked the range — 3…2...1. and shoot!” thus go the inner voices of Jagannathan (23) and Srinivasan (22).     Professional and trained rifle shooters, the duo met on the rifle shooting stadium at SDAT (Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu). “It’s just been one year since we met, but we’ve bonded so well. We are happier for the other’s win than our own!” shares Jagan.

Students of Public Administration, at Madras University, Jagan and Srinivasan have competed in 10m air pistol and 50m free pistol categories under various levels like state, zonal and national. Since childhood, Srinivasan was fascinated by the Olympic shooters and registered himself as a trainee three years back. Creating a record for the most points scored in the South Zonal in 2016, he has also won silver and bronze medals in other levels. Jagan on the other hand, entered professional shooting only last year, but has achieved feats that no other youngster in Tamil Nadu has. “We can’t sleep at  night, if we haven’t touched our weapon that day. We are very attached to it,” shares Srini.

Competing against their role models like Jitu Rai (Olympic shooter), Vijay Kumar, Omkar Singh and others, in the upcoming national matches, the college-goers are proud and nervous concurrently. “We have always learnt from Jitu Rai’s matches. We have read books and watched CDs of his games to learn more tips. He is our inspiration and to play against him is evil and wonderful at the same time!” share the shooters.

Jagan adds, “Although he’s our teacher indirectly, we want to at least score one point more than him. He is playing for his state and we, for ours. I don’t know if it’s greed or ambition.”

Asserting that they keep their homeland in mind, before every game, they share, “We are the only two players from Tamil Nadu to have come this far. There are states like Haryana which receives a lot of exposure, funds and support for sports but in the south, more efforts are needed. We have battled many odds and we want to prove to the world that there’s lot of talent in TN.”

Stating that the most challenging episode of the game is the control of the mind and body, Jagan says, “Playing against Olympic champions leaves you tensed, but you need to keep yourself calm. Our coaches Kavitha, Senthil Raj and Paranthaman are so experienced. They involve in our training more than we do. Apart from training us in the sport, they have been our life mentors too. We learn a lot from them every day.”

When asked about their long term goal, they conclude, “We want to take shooting ahead. Our goal is to participate in the 2020 Olympics under the pistol shooting category and win gold for India. We want the Indian national anthem to be played and get recognised as the first set of youngsters from Tamil Nadu to reach the Olympics — shooting category. Then government will fund shooters like other states and this way shooting will  gain popularity among the youngsters of south India.”