London Olympics men’s air rifle bronze medallist Gagan Narang has undertaken the task of mentoring young shooters for an initiative named ‘Project Leap’.
Twenty-three young players between the 10-20 age group have been shortlisted from among 57 identified from all over India.
The chosen ones were inducted into a long-term programme. Specialised coaches worked in the first camp with 12 air rifle shooters (Slovakian Anton Belak and Gagan) and 11 air pistol shooters (Korean Kim Seonil) in Pune.
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The Gagan Narang Sports Promotion Foundation (GNSPF) teamed up with Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) for the mentoring.
Gagan runs a shooting academy, ‘Gun for Glory’, in Balewadi sporting complex range, to train shooting enthusiasts and introduce the sport to the people via open events for people interested in trying their hand at the range. OGQ plans to hold six camps over the next year for young shooters inducted into the programme.
Viren Rasquinha, OGQ’s CEO, said that the decision to link up with the four-time Olympic shooter for mentoring was taken so that the youngsters could be exposed to a systematic and scientific training programme.
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Gagan is of the view that mentoring younger shooters allows him the chance to share his experience and at the same time keep in touch with the sport at the same time. He is preparing for the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
Gagan said: “I am happy that we were able to realise our long-term vision with the help of OGQ, not only through funding but going much deeper into sports science, nutrition and recovery which are very important aspects for junior shooters.”
He is one of the top Indian shooters supported by OGQ. “They supported me at a time when it was really required. I want the younger generation to get the same kind of support going into Vision 2020 and beyond.”