The Three Musketeers
They have become the flag-bearers of shooting and rightfully so. The three musketeers — Gagan Narang, Asher Noria and Kynan Chenai — have done Hyderabad and the country proud with their exploits right through the year. While Gagan’s medal tally would clearly overshadow the rest of the clan, the ace shooter is modest to give his performance a 6/10 rating.
“While I have done well in the 10m air rifle events, I want to improve in the rifle 3 position and in the 50m rifle prone categories,” he says. Gagan began the year winning a host of medals in the Commonwealth Shooting Championship in New Delhi. He then went on to win four golds at the CWG in addition to two silvers at the Asiad and two bronzes in the World Championships.
Young gun Asher is not far behind. The 18-year-old shooter clinched the yellow metal in the double trap event at the men’s junior event at the 50th ISSF World Championships in Munich in August this year. Asher won the gold in the double trap category at the World Shooting Cup in Suhl, Germany, a historic feat as no other shooter has won it for consecutive years.
Asher continued his supreme form, teaming up with Ronjan Sodhi to win the silver in the men’s pairs double trap shooting event at the Commonwealth Games. He has stepped into the shoes of Olympic silver-medallist Rajyavardhan Rathore with ease. Asher won the team bronze in the double trap event at the Asian Games in Guangzhou. National coach Sunny Thomas and Ronjan Sodhi are all praise for the youngster’s talent.
“He is one of the best we have,” says Sunny with conviction. Teammate Ronjan adds, “To be able to handle so much pressure at such a young age is what separates Asher from the rest. I am sure India will see many more medals from him in the future. Kynan Chenai is another shooter who has made his presence felt by winning a gold medal at the Thailand Open shooting championships in Bangkok this year. The two-time junior national champion will be the one to watch out for in 2011 as he looks to break into the senior side.
Meanwhile, Aprajita Tiwary too has made her presence felt, setting two national records at the 53rd National shooting championship at Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, and was even part of the junior women’s team at the World Championships in Munich.
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