Young and talented shooter from Aligarh,Annu Raj Singh who bagged a gold in 10m air pistol pairs event has the sport of shooting running in her blood,feels her father Dr SP Singh. He was confident that his daughter will come out with flying colours today. Talking to The Indian Express,Dr SP Singh who is a dental surgeon in Aligarh,said, She took to the sport of shooting in 1998 when she was barely 13. There is a 10m range at home as we all love shooting so she practiced there for the first two years. My wife Meera Singh has been a state level shooter,I too have participated in shooting competitions till the All India level while Annus elder brother Amit Raj Singh is also a national level shooter who left the sport due his business. So Annu was born to be a shooter. That she had good talent in the sport was evident from the fact that she not only won medals but also created a record in a rifle event in the very first junior nationals she participated in. Though Annu has brought laurels to UP on many occasions,however,she had to shift to Faridabad for practise purpose. She has represented UP at different levels in the past. Representing UP,she even created a record in the 10m air pistol event in the National Games held at Guwahati. But as there are no good shooting ranges in UP,therefore,she shifted to Faridabad as the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range at Tughlakabad (where she practices) is much closer to Farizabad than Aligarh. For the past two years,she has been training in Pune along with the other Indian shooters. Presently,she is posted at Delhi as Commercial Officer,Air India. Dr Singh was full of praise for Aligarh Muslim University,She graduated from AMU in 2006 and considering the fact that she is rising player of the country,all along the AMU staff and administration was very understanding and lenient with her regarding her attendance. They knew that she had to be away for most of the time due to her interest in sport so they were very supportive. While his phone has been ringing ever since his daughter won the gold and good wishes are pouring in from neighbours and relatives,the Singh family is also looking forward at the individual event to be held on Wednesday in which Annu will be participating. In the brief talk which I had with her today,Annu only said that she felt that could have done even better. Thats because she always believes in improving. Lets hope for the best, says Singh.
