Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar has become one of India's brightest young rifle shooters over the past few years. The youngster has made a big name for himself in his short career and has shown a lot of promise leading up to the Olympics.
He is part of India's most talented bunch of shooters who will be going into the Tokyo Olympics. Here's more on that and 5 things you probably didn't know about the young prodigy.
# 1 Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and his early start in shooting
Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar comes from Khargone district in Madhya Pradesh. As a child, Aishwary went hunting with his father and later learned a lot more from his cousin Navdeep Singh Rathore, who trained at the Madhya Pradesh Shooting Academy. It was under his guidance that Aishwary began shooting, as his cousin would train him in the initial days of his career.
# 2 Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and his early career setback
Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar's career took an early setback as he was suspended in his very first year as a professional. He was not allowed to compete for a year, and this meant that he would have to start right from scratch all over again. However, he is way past that now and has proven to be a terrific shooter for India at the international level.
While talking about his setback, he said:
"A butt plate was 1 cm below the permitted level and due to this technical reason, I was suspended. I had to start from scratch, play at state level, then pre-national, and then nationals. It was the toughest period." the rifle shooter added.
# 3 How many medals has Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar won in his career?
Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar has won some big medals in his short career as a shooter. He won gold at the 2019 ISSF Junior World Cup. He also grabbed 2 bronze medals in the 2019 Asian Shooting Championships as he won both the individual and the team event in the 50 meter rifle 3 position event. He also bagged 3 medals at the ISSF World Cup in Delhi, where he won a gold, silver and bronze medal, which is a positive sign for him leading into the Olympics.
2021 ISSF World Cup - Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Rahi Sarnobat impress!
# 4 Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar has a world record
Aishwary Pratap Singh started his career with a setback, but the young prodigy announced himself in style when he broke the world record at the Junior World Cup in Suhl. Aishwary scored 459.3 points and bagged a gold medal, while breaking the previous record of 458.7 points set by Filip Nepejchal of Czech Republic.
# 5 Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar's name is often mispronounced
His first name, Aishwary, is often mispronounced by people as Aiswarya, who is a Bollywood actress. When he entered the ISSF, his name was spelled wrong there and had to be later changed in their official records.
Also Read: Indian Male Shooters who have qualified for Tokyo Olympics