Abhinav Bindra Bids Adieu To Shooting

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Abhinav Bindra Bids Adieu To Shooting
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Abhinav Singh Bindra, India’s Olympic champion, doesn’t need any introduction. He has proudly represented India in many international shooting championships.

Today, as he announced the end of his professional shooting career, let’s have a look at his achievements, and also, difficulties that he overcame to bring his fame to home—India that is.

Set Records, Created History
· When he was just 15 years of age, Bindra became the youngest participant to participate in the 1998 Commonwealth Games.
· He won Bronze in the 2001 Munich World Cup, setting a new junior world record score of 597/600.
· He was all of 18 who represented in the 2000 Olympics game; youngest Indian participant to achieve this feat.
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· In 2001, he won six gold medals at various international meets.
· At the 2002 Commonwealth Games, he won a Gold medal in the Pairs event with Sameer Ambedkar, and an individual Silver medal.
· At the 49th ISSF World Shooting Championships, he became the first Indian shooter to win gold in a World Championship.
· At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, he won the Gold in the Pairs event with Gagan Narang and an individual Bronze.
· At the 2008 Olympics, he won the gold medal in the Men's 10m Air Rifle event.
· At the 2010 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony, he didn’t only get the honour of being the flag-bearer for the Indian contingent, but also took the athletes' oath on behalf of the 6,700 participants from 71 countries and territories.
· He set a record by scoring 1193 in 10m air rifle pair's event for men with Gagan Narang and won India her first Gold. He also won an individual Silver medal.
· At the 2012 Asian Shooting Championships, he won the Gold medal in the Men's 10-metre Air rifle event.
· At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, he won Gold medal in the Men’s 10m air rifle singles event.
· At the 2014 Asian Games, he secured an individual Bronze in Men's 10m Air Rifle.
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· He is the first and as of yet, the only Indian to have held both the World and Olympic titles together.

Had A Tough Road To Fame
All these achievements didn’t reach him (Bindra) easy. He had to overcome several hurdles, like:

· In the 2000 Olympics, Bindra was placed 11th in the qualification round, and thus couldn’t qualify for the finals.
· In the 2004 Olympics, he broke the Olympic record but didn’t win a medal.
· He could not attend the 2006 Asian Games because of a back injury.
· In the 2012 Olympics, he finished in the 16th place, and didn’t get through the finals.

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Some Less-know Facts About Bindra
Other than being a competent shooter, he also penned his autobiography, which is tited A Shot at History: My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold. He co-authored the autobiography with sportswriter Rohit Brijnath. He also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Colorado. He also runs a company called Abhinav Futuristics, which is the only Indian distributor of Walther arms, a German arms manufacturer. He is the brand ambassador of Steel Authority of India Limited and is a member of FICCI Sports Committee.

Image: Indiatimes