Click to play videoKolhapur: The sport of shooting is seeing a boom in India right now with the Indian shooters winning the most number of medals for India last year.
It's not just the elite who are making a name as in the past. The focus is shifting to the smaller towns. Kolhapur is the perfect example where shooters have overcome limited resources with sheer hard work.
Coach Ajit Patil is more than happy to greet his star shooter, Tejaswini Sawant. The Commonwealth Games gold medallist was away to make her mark at the season opening 2007 Hungarian Open. She grabbed two golds at the competition, adding to the tally of medals she has won over the last couple of years.
There's no dearth of upcoming shooters in India, and the young guns were able to realise their dreams through the vision of Jaysingh Kusale, and Maharashtra Government's Krida Prabodhini.
"Ek toh jo sports ke liye jo middle class ke bachce hain unko is game ke bare main pata hee nahin tha yeh jo abhi khel rahen hain who krida academy kee wajha se hee khel rahen hain. (Not many kids knew of this game, but now because of the Krida academy they have a much better chance)," coach Ajit Patil says.
The profile of Raja Sambhaji Shooting Range though, is not as impressive as that of its shooters. Carved in a small corner of a sports ground, the range is partly covered with old tin sheets and partly with wild grass. The electronic running targets, donated by actor and national-level shooter Nana Patekar, are the only equipments that constitute the 10m range.
For the moment though,Tejaswini's personal life has taken a backseat.
"Ghar walon ne poocha kee mujhe shaadi karni hain kee nahin lekin tub tuk main kayee international medals la chuki thi aur phir maine soocha kee main Olympic khelongi medal laongi uske baad shaadi ka soochongi. (My parents asked me if I wanted to get married. But till then I had won quite a few medals and wanted to win more. I will think of marriage later.)," Tejaswini says.
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