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Punjab in Sports: Shooting – A Part of Punjab’s Culture
Part 7 of 9 Part Series- 7/9
After the 1980 Olympics golden run in men’s hockey, the next podium finish by a Punjab sportsperson came through shooter Abhinav Bindra. He won gold in the 10m air rifle at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Bindra became the first Indian sportsperson, in 108 years of India’s Olympic history, to clinch an individual Olympic gold. He also became the world champion in 2006.
At the age of 17, Bindra participated in his first Olympics at Sydney 2000 and went on to compete in five successive Olympics, up to the 2016 Rio Games.
Raja Randhir Singh, from the Patiala Royal Family, became the first Indian shooter, and the first across all disciplines, to compete in five Olympics (1968 to 1984).
Avneet Sidhu became the first woman shooter from Punjab to qualify for the Olympics. She competed in the rifle shooting events in 2008 Beijing Olympics. Since then in every edition of the quadrennial games there is a participation of a woman shooter from Punjab in the Indian shooting squad. In 2012 and2016 Olympics, pistol shooter Heena Sidhu was part of the Indian contingent.
Shooter Anjum Moudgil was part of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Anjum along with Sift Kaur Samra and Rajeshwari Kumari have been name in the Indian shooting contingent for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“Hunting was an integral part of Punjab and traveled from the royals to the masses. So, shooting became second nature to the Punjabis, and guns became part of the culture, which gave rise to shooting as a sport in Punjab," said Raja KS Sidhu, a former international shooter.
“The Indian army, Punjab Police, and the Patiala Royal family have been the main contributors to making Punjab one of the sporting powerhouses of the country,” said former Punjab DGP RS Gill, who also remained the president of the Basketball Federation of India from 2003 to 2015.
Continued...
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