Summary
Srinjoy Datta, 19, of Barrackpore won gold and Abhinav Shaw, 14, of Asansol bagged the silver medal
Srinjoy edged past Abhinav 16-14 in the nail-biting final of the 10m Air Rifle event
Two boys from Bengal brought home the gold and silver in shooting at the Khelo India Youth Games 2022 held in Haryana from June 4 to 13.
Srinjoy Datta, 19, bagged the gold medal while Abhinav Shaw, 14, won silver in a nail-biting final in the 10m Air Rifle category.
Edugraph spoke to the two shooting stars:
Srinjoy Datta
Srinjoy, a student of Adamas University, took up shooting when he was 14. His father, Sankar Datta, wanted to learn shooting himself and signed Srinjoy for training at the Serampore Rifle Club.
“I used to go for classes next to the Serampore shooting range and the sound of the rifle shooting attracted me. I enquired about the fees and realised it was beyond my family’s means. But that day I promised myself that I would teach my child the sport,” Sankar said.
Srinjoy Datta at the Khelo India Youth Games 2022. Srinjoy
Srinjoy’s parents have invested all their savings to ensure that he has all the necessary facilities for practice. They have built a rifle range at home with professional amenities.
Srinjoy has lived up to his father’s dream, winning several national and international competitions. He participated in the 64th National Shooting Championship, 2021, hosted by the Madhya Pradesh Shooting Academy in Bhopal and won gold in 10m Rifle Men Individual (ISSF) Civilian Championship and silvers in 10m Rifle Youth Men Team (ISSF) National Championship and 10m Rifle Junior Mixed Team (ISSF) National Championship.
He represented India at the ISSF World Cup 2022 in Cairo, Egypt, where he ranked 5th in 10m Rifle Men Team.
A student of Bholananda National Vidyalaya, Barrackpore, he is now doing his graduation in English from Adamas University.
A fan of Olympian gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, Srinjoy’s ultimate dream, too, is to play at the Olympics.
Abhinav Shaw
The 14-year-old shooter from Asansol and Edugraph 18 Under 18 Award finalist started his journey in shooting at the age of eight.
Shooting was a sport his father chose for him but soon he developed an interest. “The preparations started even before he was born. I was saving for the sport and when he was six months old, I introduced him to swimming. By the age of two, he was able to swim well. Then he started karate classes when he was 3.5 years old. After getting physically strong, he started shooting,” said Rupesh Shaw, father of Abhinav.
Rupesh is a coach at the Asansol Rifle Club and was his son’s first trainer. Abhinav was also trained by Olympian shooter Joydeep Karmakar for a year and half. He is currently training under Olympian Suma Sirur, chief coach of the Indian shooting team.
Abhinav Shaw practises at the Asansol Rifle Club. Abhinav
Abhinav, a student of St. Vincent’s High & Technical School, Asansol, became the youngest Khelo India Youth Games medallist when he won gold in the 10m Air Rifle Mixed category in 2019. He also won a silver medal in the 10m Air Rifle Junior Men’s category in IISSF World Cup Junior Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun 2022 held in Suhl, Germany.
Abhinav had a fanboy moment when Olympian Abhinav Bindra congratulated him in a tweet after his win in the Khelo India Youth Games 2020. Abhinav’s father, also an Abhinav Bindra fan, says his son was named after him. Abhinav was born the same year Bindra won gold in the Olympics — 2008.
Talking about his feat at the Khelo India Youth Games 2022, Abhinav said: “It was a good experience, I am learning from each game. Will work hard to rectify my mistakes. Still a long journey ahead.”
The shooting prodigy is an introvert and loves watching sitcoms on television in his free time.
Last updated on 20 Jun 2022
