Target set

If it is about focusing, 25-year-old Shehzad Mirza has hit the bull's eye- and that too a number of times.

With two silver and one bronze medal at the Maharashtra State Shooting championship, city youngster Shehzad Mirza has his eyes set on the Commonwealth Games 2010

If it is about focusing, 25-year-old Shehzad Mirza has hit the bull8217;s eye- and that too a number of times. In fact, recently Mirza won two silver and one bronze medal at the Maharashtra State Shooting Championship, held at Worli sea phase in Mumbai between September 30 and October 6.

According to an excited Mirza, 8220;I won one silver medal in Standard pistol category, another silver in Centre fire pistol and one bronze in Rapid fire category. The prerequisite of this competition was that only the qualifiers for pre-nationals could participate. This made the competition even tougher. But I am happy that this was a fruitful competition for me.8221;

Having won two gold medals at the pre-nationals in 2005, silver at the open nationals in 2006 and bronze at the open nationals in 2007, Mirza8217;s decision to take up shooting as a full time profession was not accidental. 8220;My father has a licensed trigger and it was because of him I developed interest in shooting. I joined the Pune District Rifle Association in 2004. My initial teacher was Gani Shaikh but after that I have received great help from Arjun Award winner Ashok Pandit and his son Ronak Pandit. I also won district championships before targetting the state and national level competitions,8221; adds he.

Mirza feels that after the performances by Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Abhinav Bindra, the way people look at shooting as a sport has changed. 8220;People take it more seriously now! In fact you will be surprised to know that the Commonwealth Youth Games have one of the best ranges in the entire continent,8221; adds he. Commenting on the nature of shooting as a sport Mirza says, 8220;Contrary to the commonly perceived notion that shooting is about focus, I would like to comment that shooting is a neuromuscular game. It is about the coordination between one8217;s body and mind. In fact other than the regular shooting practice that I do at home, I also spend a lot of time doing Yoga, exercise and Pranayam.8221;

With Ashok Pandit and Jaspal Rana as his idols, Mirza now has his eyes set on the open nationals scheduled to take place in December this year and the Commonwealth Games taking place in Delhi in 2010. 8220;All my colleagues and friends blame me for not celebrating my success. But I feel that more than enjoyment, the winning moments are about looking ahead and targeting the competitions in the future and to start working towards them. I want to take the competitions to come as stepping-stones and target the 2012 London Olympics.8221;

A part of his profession, it seems that targeting has become a habit for this young shooter. And knowing the champion that he is, no target seems unachievable!