For Gagan Narang, it all began at the age of six when he held his first gun for shooting down balloons at a carnival at Chennai's Marina Beach. After that he just got stuck to guns and shooting.
Come the 2012 London Olympics, India's shooters will be the centre of attraction with high hopes pinned down to their shoulders. The Indian shooting revolution started in Athens, was bettered in Beijing and needs to be elevated this summer in London.
Narang was unlucky not to qualify for the 10m air rifle finals in Beijing four years ago, where Abhinav Bindra went on to win the gold. But the shooter from Hyderabad didn’t let this disappointment hamper his career, rather improved his shooting prowess in the arena.
For the last couple of years, Narang has been in good form and stands a realistic chance of finishing on the podium. Moreover, his experience of representing in two previous Olympics will hold him in good stead. Among the Indian shooters, Narang is touted as the most talented and on his day he can do wonders on the range.
Like at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, Narang was at his peak where he landed four gold medals, followed it up with two silvers at the Guangzhou Asian Games and also a new world record of 703.5 in the World Cup finals in Bangkok, which included a perfect 600 out of 600 in qualification.
In London, Narang will be competing in three events: 10m air rifle event on July 30, 50m Rifle Prone (August 3) and 50-m Rifle 3 Position (August 6). However, participating in three events gives Narang a glimmer of hope to land a medal, but everything will zero down on how things pan out for the burly shooter at the Royal Artillery Barracks.
Narang so far has won all the medals one can imagine of, except for the elusive Olympic medal. Hopefully, London proves lucky for Narang and his chase for Olympic glory finally comes to an end.
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