Guns will boom for all the right reasons at the Film Nagar Cultural Centre in Jubilee Hills here, what with the inauguration of ace marksman and Olympic medallist Gagan Narang’s much-awaited ‘Gun for Glory Shooting Academy’.
The 10m shooting range on the FNCC premises will cater to the air pistol and air rifle categories, and meets all international standards.
“This is a very special moment on a very special day. I have been waiting for this for long as I always desired to give something back to the city where I mastered the nuances of the sport, from 1999 at the Country Club,” said Narang, who looked pleased. In attendance were IT and Panchayat Raj Minister K.T. Rama Rao, film actor Akkineni Nagarjuna and former All England champion Pullela Gopichand.
Narang was appreciative of the State Government’s support to sports in a big way. “There are plenty of positive signals. I am open to start similar academies in schools and different localities,” he said.
Mr. Rama Rao said he would take up the issue of letting out Sports Authority of Telangana (SAT) shooting ranges at Gachibowli to the ace shooter to set up similar academies. Narang said he would employ qualified coaches from his Pune-based ‘Gun for Glory Academy’, which, he revealed, had produced 87 international medallists since it began in 2010.
“It was a great feeling to let about 10,000 kids get a feel of the gun for about 10 minutes. This with the hope of producing many more medallists,” he said. The former World Cup champion would visit the FNCC Academy frequently to train and inspire the young talent.
“This range is so good that even I can train regularly here. It will surely give a fillip to shooting in Telangana as the sport continues to be the No.1 in terms of producing medallists at the international level,” Narang remarked.
The Olympic bronze medallist, who is a Hyderabadi, hopes to produce more stars from his newly-inaugurated academy in the city
