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There were just three of them and they definitely tried out everything to make the Khelo India Youth Games 2021 their happy hunting ground. Srinjoy Dutta, Abhinav Shaw and Swati Chowdhary represented Bengal in the 10m air rifle events at the Khelo India games, held here at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi. While Srinjoy and Abhinav reached the top, it was not a favourable outing for Swati, who couldn't qualify to the final round of the girls' 10m air rifle event.
A known face, Abhinav Shaw already has had the distinction of becoming the youngest Khelo India Youth Games medalist ever at the age of 10, when he won the gold in the 2019 edition of the games in Maharashtra. Now at the age of 14, he bagged the silver at the boys' 10m air rifle event in KIYG Haryana. "My goal is to win 2 gold medals in Olympics in the same edition, at the men's 10m air rifle and the mixed rifle event," said an ever-motivated Abhinav to the Sports Authority of India after the event. "I have been training under Suma Shirur ma'am in Mumbai for the last 2-3 years and there has been a lot of improvement in my training and technique. Deepak Kumar sir also helps me a lot and tells me how to calm myself as well as handle pressure, from the start to finish of the competition." Tokyo 2020 Olympian Deepak has been a constant help for 19-year-old Srinjoy Dutta as well, who looks quite as calm, calculated and philosophical like his senior counterpart. "Deepak Kumar congratulated me after my gold medal win," Srinjoy said. Srinjoy has been training at the SAI NCOE Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range and he has acknowledged the help he has got in his career after coming here. "I started training at the KSSR after my participation at the Khelo India Youth Games in Guwahati, where I came seventh. Just like his painter father Shankar Dutta who fought all odds to get his son into shooting, Srinjoy speaks philosophically of all the struggles he has faced in his life and what he wants to achieve next. "I battled depression after my rifle malfunctioned and also my mental state fell apart in the last few National level competitions. I also wasn't getting the scores I expected. But I got the support from my team and my dad was always beside me," said Srinjoy. "Slowly, my mental state picked up. I have struggled a lot and it is for those struggles that you see this performance from me today. If I wouldn't have got myself out of those hurdles, you wouldn't have seen me today. (ANI)
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