As DAV College student wins medals at Asian Games, his father and his coach remember his perseverance
Saturday’s victory tasted a little bit more sweeter for Sarabjot, who celebrated his 22nd birthday during the day, with both the Indian and Chinese teams celebrating with a cake.
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Sarabjot Singh and Divya TS pose with their 10m air pistol mixed team silver medals at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, on Saturday. (Express Photo) Ambala shooter and DAV College, Chandigarh, student Sarabjot Singh paired up with Divya TS to claim the silver medal in the 10m Air Pistol Mixed team event in the Asian Games in Hangzhou in China on Saturday morning.
Sarabjot had earlier won the men’s team gold medal along with Shiva Narwal and Arjun Singh Cheema in the 10m Air Pistol event.
Saturday’s victory tasted a little bit more sweeter for Sarabjot, who celebrated his 22nd birthday during the day, with both the Indian and Chinese teams celebrating with a cake.
Sarabjot, who belongs to Dhin village near Ambala, had taken up shooting as a sport while he was at Bhagirath Public School, Koolpur village. Sarabjot’s father Jatinder Singh Sahanserval being a marginal farmer, it was a tough beginning for the youngster in the sport.
“Sarabjot used to practice at the school before he joined training under coach Abhishek Rana at his academy in Ambala. When he started pistol shooting, I got him a new pistol worth Rs 1.5 lakh after borrowing some money from a few village agents and using a part of my savings that I made from selling the crop yield from our four acre land in the village. I would travel by motorcycle daily to take him for shooting practise. Sometimes Sarabjot took the bus to Ambala. To see him winning medals at the Asian Games level brings immense joy to us,” shared Sarabjot’s proud father Jatinder Singh Sahanserval.
The youngster had become the world champion in ISSF Junior World Cup in 2019 and was part of the Indian junior team which won the gold medal in the 10m air pistol event in the Junior World Championships in Lima in 2021. He also won the team mixed gold medal in the same year and has made rapid progress at the international level training under coach Abhishek Rana at the then Shooters Terrace Academy in Ambala.
“When Sarabjot came to train at the academy in 2016, he had strong basics and had shown keen interest in practise. He would practise for close to 6-8 hours daily, even at his young age. It was his willpower that made him achieve success at the international level,” said coach Rana, who now runs the Abhishek Rana Shooting Academy.
This year, Sarabjot had become the champion in the 10m Air Pistol event in the ISSF World Cup in Bhopal. In the qualification round, he shot a score of 585 and went on to eventually win the final with a score of 253.2 in the medal rounds to bag the gold medal. In the men’s individual 10m air pistol, the youngster missed the medal by a whisker as he finished fourth.
Sarabjot teamed with Shiva Narwal and Arjun Singh Cheema to win the team gold for India. “The gold in the ISSF World Cup in Bhopal, prior to the Asian Games, boosted his confidence a lot and Sarabjot looked in fine form ahead of the Asian Games. The 8.8 shot cost him a medal in the individual event but the team gold medal and today’s mixed gold medal shall further increase his confidence,” said Rana.
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