Deepak Kumar was sent to a gurukul by his father at the age of 11 in Dehradun to pursue spirituality. His father, a Delhi Tourism official, wanted Deepak to "be a good human being and not chase money".
Deepak spent the next 10 years in the school studying yoga, Vedas and Sanskrit. On Friday, he said, he made full use of his learnings at the ashram to get close to a medal in his maiden World Cup.
"It was a big occasion for me, but I was not nervous. Yoga helps me unwind in high pressure situations like these competitions," the soft-spoken Indian Air Force sergeant told TOI.
"I practice yoga every day." Deepak had his first tryst with shooting when he visited a nearby shooting academy run by former ace shooter Jaspal Rana. "I was drawn towards the game. As my game improved, the school purchased a rifle and a pistol for me. I tried my hand at pistol shooting, then air rifle."
In between, he started practising archery and even represented Uttrakhand in archery nationals. "But I had to give it up because of injury." Deepak, now 27, says his life as a shooter changed once he joined the Indian Air Force. "The coach there, Manoj Kumar, helped me improve as a shooter."
Deepak is trying to establish himself in an event in which India has won its lone individual Olympic gold - through Abhinav Bindra. He could not get the better of the likes of Buhan Song of China and Peter Sidi of Hungary on Friday, but he was pleased with his performance.
No comments:
Post a Comment