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    You are at:Home » Blog » Bindra: He shot for India
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    Bindra: He shot for India

    Nalin MehtaBy Nalin MehtaSeptember 24, 2014Updated:April 5, 2015No Comments2 Mins Read
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    Just before the London Olympics, he forced himself to jump off a plane: hoping to train his mind to work under extreme conditions, attempting somehow to simulate the pressures of the shooting range and the way his instincts would react under duress. Before the Beijing Olympics, where he won India’s first gold, he forced himself to do commando-type rock-climbing. There has always been a special craziness about Abhinav Bindra, a single-minded pursuit of perfection in a sport that is more about the mind than any other and one that few understand. Before Incheon, Bindra didn’t announce any such out-of-the-box training gambits to achieve the kind of zen he needs to shoot but the fact that he will now semi-retire as a hobby shooter puts a full-stop – or at least a comma – in the remarkable story of India’s greatest shooter.

    Just like at Beijing where he was trailing at first, only to hit a first shot of 10.5 in the final, Bindra came back from the dead in Incheon with another 10.5 to win a medal.
    Just like at Beijing where he was trailing at first, only to hit a first shot of 10.5 in the final, Bindra came back from the dead in Incheon with another 10.5 to win a medal.

    He is the rare Indian sportsman who not only reached the top of global excellence but by showing what could be done, also ignited a virtual revolution in his sport. More than that, he has emerged as an outspoken advocate for Indian sport in a way that few athletes do – speaking out against the problems of officialdom and the mismanagement of the IOA and the NRAI.

    He could have managed his dad’s business, he could satisfied himself with low-level sporting success, he could have made excuses about facilities and management but he was never content and kept pushing the limits.

    He says he will still aim for Rio but can he repeat his heady success as a hobby shooter in a competitive and unpredictable sport that is defined only by obsession and the shot of the moment? Are his two bronzes in Incheon the end of the road for this remarkable shooter from Chandigarh whose father built him his own shooting range so he could pursue his passion? Who knows? But one thing is certain. India has not seen a sportsman like him and it’s time for a salute.

    Bindra Olympics shooting
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    Professor Nalin Mehta is Dean, School of Modern Media, UPES; Advisor, Global University Systems and Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University Singapore. He is an award-winning social scientist, journalist and author who has held senior leadership positions in major Indian media companies; international financing institutions like the Global Fund in Geneva, Switzerland; taught and held research positions at universities and institutions in Australia (ANU, La Trobe University), Singapore (NUS), Switzerland (International Olympic Museum) and India (IIM Bangalore, Shiv Nadar University).

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    Professor Nalin Mehta is Dean, School of Modern Media, UPES; Advisor, Global University Systems an Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University Singapore. He is an award-winning social scientist, journalist and author who has held senior leadership positions in major Indian digital, print and TV news companies; been a communications expert with international financing institutions and the UN in Geneva, Switzerland; taught and held research positions at universities and institutions in Australia, Singapore, Switzerland and India.

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