Guns ablaze for Gagan Narang

June 13, 2016

As the Rio Olympics draw closer, Gagan Narang the Olympic bronze medalist, in Air rifle shooting is leaving no stone unturned. With less than 60 days left to the competition, Narang who aims to come back a winner has begun preparations by receiving the gun he would be using to shoot to glory. At a recent event held at Gun For Glory Shooting Academy, Narang was presented with a technologically advanced air gun by Walther. The Walther Group, which has been associated with the Gun For Glory Shooting Academy since its inception, announced their whole-hearted support to Gagan Narang’s initiative in popularizing the sport of shooting.

Considering that newer technology had come in, Narang needed to change his gun for better results. Relying on a Walther air gun with which he began shooting 19 years ago and it was on this brand of gun that he achieved the world record of 600 out of 600 seemed like the best choice. Besides having an electronic trigger, the gun is made so that it adjusts to the shooters’ shoulder rather than forcing the shooter to adjust to the gun. Also the weight of the gun is lighter than the old one, which should give Narang some advantage. “I will be using this gun at Rio Olympics. Unlike in the past when one needed to spend much time to get adjusted to the gun, the technology has reduced that gap, so it will be easy for me to shoot with this new gun with same or better scores,” said Narang.

This has been possible due to the partnership between Walther Group and Gun for Glory. This shooting academy is an initiative started by Gagan Narang and Pawan Singh to promote the sport of shooting by moulding young talents at the right time in order to produce newer stars in the shooting firmament. Established in January 2011 by the Gagan Narang Sports Promotion Foundation as the Gun For Glory Shooting Academy, it is a not-for-profit enterprise operating out of the Shooting Range at the Shiv Chhatrapati Shivaji Stadium in Balewadi.

Speaking about the Academy, Pawan Singh said that they already have started 12 academies across India and more are in pipeline. “There is a lot of talent in India and shooting is an important sport. We want to increase the branches so that more people can avail of opportunities,” adds Singh. While Pune is the headquarters, the second academy in the state is at Dombivali in Mumbai, Gujarat also has several academies. Also, the Telangana government is showing interest in shooting and an academy is planned there too, besides the functional centre at Hyderabad.