What’s the story?
29-year-old Swaroop Unhalkar will lead the Indian challenge at the 2017 Shooting Para Sport World Cup which will commence on the 19th of February in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. He will compete in the 10m air rifle standing and prone events. His selection for the World Cup was a result of his gold-medal winning effort at the Nationals which were held last year in December.
"I am glad that I have been officially selected for the Indian team. I was expecting it since my scores in the nationals were good. I thank Paralympic Committee of India for having their faith in me," the wheelchair-bound shooter was quoted as saying to the Times of India.
In case you didn’t know...
Swaroop’s body, below the waist, has been non-functional since birth due to polio. He started to pursue a host of sports after quitting his academics post the 12th grade, trying his hand at table tennis and athletics before settling on shooting.
Previously, he had competed at the last edition of the World Cup held in 2014 in Fort Benning, USA, on his own expense but failed to put on a good show.
However, post that he received support from Guns for Glory and has been training at the Balewadi stadium in Pune under Yuniatri Ilyas, a rifle shooting coach from Thailand, and coach Pavan Singh for the past couple of years.
The heart of the matter
Hailing from Kolhapur, Swaroop, who is bound to the wheelchair will participate in his second World Cup in the United Arab Emirates next month in the 10m air rifle events. Well aware of the challenges that await him, the shooter is confident of winning a medal this time around.
The shooter exuded confidence as he stated that he is currently shooting scores well above 600 which is pretty good at the level he is in.
What’s next?
Come the 19th of February, all eyes will be on this differently-abled shooter to fetch glory for the country on the global stage. Having had support this time around in terms of sponsorship, equipment and coaching staff, it will probably be the best chance for Swaroop to showcase his mettle.
Sportskeeda’s take
In the light of the great achievements of our medalists in the likes of Devendra Jhajharia, Varun Bhati, Deepa Malik and Mariyappan Thangavelu at the Rio Paralympics last year, it is heartening to see the government and federations supporting more sportspersons in this category and thus providing them with the impetus to go ahead and make a real difference in the sporting world.
