03 September,2017 03:35 PM IST | Mumbai | Noel D'Souza
Former World No. 1 in 10m air rifle shooting, Anjali Bhagwat was in her teens when veteran coach Sanjoy Chakraverty began to teach her the basics of shooting
Gagan Narang and Anjali Bhagwat
Former World No. 1 in 10m air rifle shooting, Anjali Bhagwat was in her teens when veteran coach Sanjoy Chakraverty began to teach her the basics of shooting.
Bhagwat, who won 12 gold and four silver medals at various Commonwealth Games, admitted that her achievements wouldn't have been possible without her guru. "He made us disciplined due to which we could survive in this field for more than 10 years. We were literally struggling to have good weapons, ammunition and a good range for practice. His support was very important.
"He always gave us that confidence that someday we would achieve everything, but stressed that our basics needed to be strong. He trained us so well that after 10 years when I actually got a professional coach Lazlo Szucsak in 1999, within six months I reached Commonwealth level. I started gaining my World Cup medals, achieved high rankings in the Indian Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) category. He hardly took time to polish us and that was very important. We were very lucky to have him," the Mumbai shooter Bhagwat told mid-day.
Olympic 10m air rifle, bronze medalist, Gagan Narang too joined Chakraverty's school around the same time as Bhagwat. "When I training under him I was a novice and hence every piece of information back then were words heavier than gold for me. I gave my 200 per cent to learn techniques and concepts back then under him," Narang added.
