New Delhi,SEP 14
When Niraj Kumar completed Class 12, he was faced with a decision that would go on to define his life. With his family preparing for his college admission, the young shooter had a different request for his parents. Niraj wanted them to use the money they had saved for his college education to buy him a rifle so that he could pursue shooting professionally. Now, he is a part of the Indian shooting squad for Asian Games starting in Japan from September 19 onwards. “I told them, buy me the rifle. I will see the college degree later. First, I have to shoot,” Niraj recalls, saying as quoted by a press release from the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI). The rifle cost around Rs 3-3.5 lakh, a significant investment for a family with no sporting background. Yet, for Niraj, it represented an opportunity to find out how far he could go in a sport that had started as an introduction through the National Cadet Corps (NCC).Niraj was just 14 when he first picked up a rifle in 2014. His father, a retired Army officer, had enrolled him in NCC at school with the intention of helping him eventually pursue a career in the armed forces. While Niraj had always been interested in sport and had participated in kabaddi, table tennis and basketball during his school years, it was shooting that eventually captured his attention.He was introduced to the 50m Rifle Prone event through NCC and began competing in Inter-Battalion and Inter-Group competitions. As medals started coming in, what began as an interest gradually developed into an ambition. By the time he reached the pre-national level, Niraj had begun to believe that he could build a career in shooting, and he set himself the long-term goal of winning an Olympic medal. However, convincing his parents that shooting could be a viable career was a big challenge. With no sportsperson in the family, his parents were understandably concerned about the uncertainty surrounding a career in sport, particularly given the costs involved in shooting.
