Assam shooter Hriday Hazarika who recently won a gold medal at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Championships in Changwon is currently preparing for 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The 16- year- old has also bagged a gold medal at Junior ISSF World Cup 2018 in Germany. He currently holds the third position in senior national rankings of shooting after bagging a gold medal at the World Championships in South Korea.
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He had also participated in various shooting championships in Delhi, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Iran.
The shooting champ who is now a household name started in his childhood days as he used to play with toy guns. He also visited the college where his father worked as an NCC officer and was inspired by the physical instructors and NCC cadets of the college as they offered him with a big dummy rifle, a home-made wooden rifle as a gift.
His journey of shooting started in 2013 after his father enrolled him at Sankardev College in Lakhimpur district where he trained in 10 metre air rifle shooting.
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He is currently practicing at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi under the guidance of his coach Deepak Kr Dubey. The reputed institute has produced many successful shooters in India.
The shooting sensation of Assam said that since shooting is an expensive sport , the Assam government should provide equipments like pistol and rifle to the shooting association which will help in promotion of the game and will also be helpful for budding shooters of the state.
He also said that the state government should upgrade the facilities for popularizing shooting in Assam as the state has many talented shooters. The rifle shooter also said that one has to bear an additional weight of 5.5 kg rifle and another 5-6 kg of jacket and trouser for rifle shooting.
He does physical training like exercises, yoga, meditation in the morning and during afternoon he practices with his rifle for around four to five hours daily, reports The Assam Tribune.
He owes his success to his parents, coach Deepak Kumar Dubey, Assam Rifle and Shooting Association, Sankardev College, the Chief Minister of Assam, National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Olympic Gold Quest for supporting him in his shooting career.