The journey from Sugarcane fields to Tokyo Olympics

The story is about shooter Saurabh Choudhary and how despite the limited facilities coach Amit Sheoran produced a world-class shooter from a basic range at village Binauli in Baghpat, western Uttar Pradesh.

In the name of shooting range they have a basic structure with outdated electrical pulleys – nowadays the electronic targets are used. In the scorching heat, the shooters train under the ceiling fan – generally you will find air conditioned ranges. For holding exercises the trainees use bricks instead of weights and if the trainees are more, then some have to do the holding exercises under the tree in the premises of a temple adjoining the shooting range.

Likes of Amit Sheoran have made shooting a rural sport in the Baghpat-Meerut belt. In the last one-and-half decade shooting has helped many youngsters in the rural belt of Baghpat to get government jobs under the sports quota. But Saurabh’s exponential growth in the sport has changed everyone’s perspective in Baghpat region. Now, the kids want to learn shooting to be an Asian Games champion or to compete in the Olympics like him. 

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From joining shooting, hoping it will help in getting a sports quota job in army, to eyeing an Olympic glory  

By Saurabh Duggal  

Shooting sport has been a game changer in the rural areas of Baghpat and its bordering district Meerut in the western Uttar Pradesh. With limited landholdings, the youth look towards a government job to supplement the family income. And they find shooting, an easy route to get the jobs in the army or paramilitary forces.   

Saurabh Choudhary was also not an exception when he joined Amit Sheoran’s shooting academy in Binauli village, around 15km from his native village Kalina on the Baghpat-Meerut border. His initial priority too was a government job under the sports quota, but after a few months of training, the target shifted to eyeing a berth in a national squad. And later a gold in the very first nationals brought the Olympics into focus.   

“When Saurabh’s elder brother Nitin brought him to the shooting range, their ultimate target was to get a job in the Indian army under the sports quota. In the last one-and-half decade shooting has helped many youngsters in the rural belt of Baghpat to get government jobs. So, the youngsters want to learn the sport as it could help them secure a future,” says shooting coach Sheoran.

Shifting focus to Olympics

“Saurabh came to me in late 2015 and in a few months, he showed his class. He was then shooting 360-365 points (out of 400), which was quite a good score for a beginner. I called his brother to the range and told him that Saurabh is made for bigger things and they should drop the idea of securing a sports quota job in the army. The family gave serious thought to my advice and bought him a personal pistol. Before that he was using a common pistol on the range. He became the national champion in all three categories (youth, junior and senior) in his very first nationals in 2016. Since then the Olympics came into our focus and I knew he would be there in Tokyo,” recalls Sheoran. “Saurabh’s exponential growth in the sport changed everyone’s perspective in Baghpat region. Now, the kids want to learn shooting to be an Asian Games champion or to compete in the Olympics like him.”