The pandemic had come in the way of his going to the range before the Tokyo Paralympics. So, India shooter Singhraj Adana simply built the range at home after drawing its layout in just one night.

At the Asaka Shooting Range in Tokyo on Tuesday, the monumental effort paid off as the 39-year-old won the Paralympics bronze medal in the P1 men’s 10m air pistol SH1 event, only four years after taking to the sport.

Adana shot a total of 216.8 to finish the event in the third place after qualifying for the eight-man final as the sixth best shooter.

Hovering around the top three, Adana dropped out of contention with his poor 19th shot but managed to get back in the reckoning with his 20th attempt as China’s Xiaolong Lou got 8.6.

During the lockdown, the polio-afflicted shooter’s desperation to resume training had reached a point where he was not able to even get a good night’s sleep.

“As I was not able to train, I started thinking that my dream of winning a medal is over. That’s when my coaches suggested why not try building a range at home,” Adana said during a media interaction.

“I was getting desperate because I was unable to train. So I approached my family with the idea and they were taken aback at first as it involved lakhs of rupees.

“My mother only asked me to ensure that we are able to feed ourselves later on if something went wrong.

“But thanks to my family and coaches’ support, the green signal and help from the Paralympic Committee of India and NRAI, we succeeded in my mission and the range was soon up and running,” he added.

“I drew the layout overnight and my coaches told me that if at all we are building a range then it has to be of international level as it would then help me for not just Tokyo but also the Paris Games. And that’s why I am here today.”