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Anjali - greatest shooting star
Photo: K.R. Deepak
Anjali Ved Bhagwat-the sharp shooting petitie.
She picked up the rifle when she was 18 and has not put it down till date. Sharp shooting herself into the skies of fame, Anjali Ved Bhagwat appears more like a fashion model than a sportswoman, but the Arjuna Award in her hand makes you take a second look at the petite personality. A special invitee to the recent Youth Asian Volley Ball tournament at Visakhapatnam, Anjali is with the CISF in Port Trust.
Her tryst with rifle goes back to 1988 when, by sheer accident, she had to participate in an inter-collegiate NCC shooting competition as the school cadet had fallen ill, since she was an active mountaineer and had green belts in judo and karate by then. Initially, she resisted but was forced to pick up the gun: all her shots were a disaster and she missed targets by metres. Just when she was planning to slink off into oblivion she was spotted by the Maharashtra Rifle Association president, B.B. Ram, who goaded her into having another try, and this time with some training. They were looking for some women to join the State team. The idea of travelling to different places appealed to her more than shooting and she found herself in the squad. In ten days, she managed to learn something about the game and won the national silver. This win convinced Anjali not to contemplate give up shooting. And so was born the greatest shooting star India, nay the world, has ever seen.
``It has been a lot of hard work and sacrifice for me. When I look at my journey and the accolades that have come my way, I am grateful to God for giving me the strength to carry on. Being the first batch of shooters in India, we were the guinea-pigs and our coach, veteran shooter Sanjay Chakravarty, tried it all on us. Then Laszlo Sziak from Hungary came as coach for us. He was the best in the world at that time and he changed my life and destiny,'' recalls Anjali.
India became the Commonwealth champions, and she stood seventh in the Olympics that year. There was literally no ''looking back'' after that. Today, she is ranked No.1 in the world in the 10 m. Air Rifle event for women, as per ISSF rating. She won the silver for India at the Sydney World Cup 2002 with a score of 397/400. She bettered this performance with a silver at Atlanta World Cup 2002 with a score of 399/400, thus confirming India's quota for the Athens Olympics in 2004. Anjali was the first Indian shooter to win a silver at the Munich World Cup 2002 and won the most coveted Champions Trophy and was declared 'Champion of champions 2002'in the Air Rifle men, women and mixed event.
January 2002 saw Anjali equaling the world record in the Den Hague Air Weapon Championship in Holland). In all, she won four golds, seven silvers and one bronze medal in the European Circuit that year. She represented India in the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and became the fist Indian shooter to reach the Olympic finals in the first attempt. Earlier, she had won 23 gold, 18 silver and four bronze medals establishing new records 13 times in international contests. The 2003 World Cup, currently on in Germany, also sees Anjali as a strong contender for top honours, as she had already taken the gold in the US a few weeks ago.
A number of awards have come to Anjali. The Shree Shiv Chatrapati Award in 1992, Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar in 1993, Khashaba Jadhav award in 2001, Indo- American Society award for the Young Achiever of the year in 2002 and the Maharashtra Shaan in 2003 have come easily to this shooter but the most unforgettable moment was in 2000 when she was named for India's most coveted sports title - the Arjuna Award. Coincidentally this award came to her a few days after she tied the knot with Mandar Bhagwat, a businessman, who has since not stopped smiling with pride at his wife's achievements. Today he is her pillar of support.
``Rifle shooting is a mental game and your success largely depends on your psychological make up,'' says Anjali. ''Sharp shooting as a sports event has two categories - pistol (short barrel) and rifle (long barrel). Also there are mixed events for both men and women. There are three ways of shooting - standing, kneeling and lying down. Women's events are in the distance of 50 metres standing. The air rifle (10 m.) and sports rifle three positions (50 m.) are Olympic events. I simply chose to master the air rifle as I don't need any particular licence for that gun. Plus the ammunition and everything else associated with this sport is easily available. In shooting, each one has to have different equipment as adjustment differs from shooter to shooter. Not only the aim aperture but also the grip adjustment varies as per palm size and all these minor adjustments matter when you are competing at the international level with extremely professional players. This is a very costly sport and cannot be everybody's cup of tea.''
She ends by lamenting that despite having the world champion in India, there are only four or five passable ranges in the entire country for the national shooting squad to practise - nothing is modernised and there never seems to be enough money spent on them. Compared to competitors abroad who use computerised ranges, our paper targets are so outdated and can affect the team's performance.
Anjali's daily routine includes large doses of yoga, some mental exercises, breathing techniques and lots of practice. She has never felt any pinch in being an Indian woman in this progressive field and even naughtily attributes a woman's early mental maturity level to her success in the mixed event over the men.
When we see a shooting star we are asked to close our eyes and make a wish. With my eyes shut I wish Anjali Ved Bhagwat took India onto great glory in the years to come!
MEENAKSHI ANANTRAM
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