Palembang: Fifteen-year-old Shardul Vihan became Thursday the youngest Indian shooter to win a medal at the Asian Games after he finished second in the men’s double trap here, extending the sensational run of teenaged marksmen from the country.
The Meerut-based Vihan shot 73 in the final after topping the qualification earlier in the day. The gold went to 34-year-old South Korean Hyunwoo Shin and bronze to 42-year-old from Qatar, Hamad Ali Al Marri.
Vihan, a class 10 student of Dayawati Modi Academy in Modipuram, was unfazed by the presence of experienced shooters double his age. The bronze winner is almost triple his age.
Sixteen-year-old Saurabh Chaudhary, who also has a Meerut connection, had made history by winning the gold in the 10m pistol here Tuesday. Vihan’s silver was India’s eighth medal from the Jakabaring Shooting Range.
Vihan took to shooting seriously only four years ago, under the tutelage of Shamli-based coach Anwar Sultan, who witnessed his student’s success in person.
“The moment he came to me I knew he would excel at whatever he does. Be it table tennis or badminton or any other sport. He has an amazing muscle memory. Now I will prepare him for the trap event,” said Sultan, looking at the future as double trap is no more an Olympic sport.
He is a rare talent who works extremely hard on his game. His uncle Manoj Vihan, who was also here, revealed his punishing schedule.
“He (Shardul) wakes up at five in the morning every day, goes to Karni Shooting Rane (in Delhi) from Meerut, and comes back only by nine in the night. Imagine a 15-year-old doing all this,” said Manoj.
Vihan tried his hand at cricket and then badminton before settling at shooting. “I won a shooting medal in 2014 at a North Zone meet. That was it (when I knew what I would be doing for a long time),” said a supremely confident Vihan, who only began with a shotgun and fell in love with it.
- Vihan had won four national titles in 2017 plus a bronze at the ISSF Junior World Cup in Germany
- Third Indian teenager to win a medal at the ongoing Asiad
- Vihad had topped the qualification round, but finished second in the finals