Manilal Gohil, an autorickshaw driver from Ahmedabad has fulfilled his daughter’s dream of being a shooter by buying her a rifle worth Rs 5 lakh. Mittal, a girl from Gomtipur had ambitions to represent her country in shooting competitions, took a step closer to her goal when she was gifted a German made rifle which weighs 8 kilograms. The rifle will help her participate in the National shooting Championship in December this year, which was bought by the money saved for her wedding.
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Mittal Gohil, during her childhood, once passed by the Ahmedabad Rifle Club and was inspired to take up shooting as a hobby. But the cost involved in the sport was a big factor taking into consideration the situation of the family. As per the reports of The Times of India, she said, "My father and my family have sacrificed a lot just to fulfil my expensive hobby. After getting this rifle, I will work hard to participate in international level and represent our country.”
India won two medals at the Rio Olympics, and both of them were won by female athletes, it is needless to say that the man from Ahmedabad was inspired by this fact to a large extent and eventually decided to make a sacrifice for the shooter who participated in the 2013 National Championships with a borrowed rifle and won a bronze medal.
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Wrestler Sakshi Malik and shuttler PV Sindhu made the nation proud with their heroic efforts in the recently concluded Rio Olympics. If Mittal works hard, we will possibly watch her on the podium at the Olympics. The only one barrier coming in between her success is the amount of money involved in the sport.
Apart from the Rs 5 lakh invested for the rifle, each bullet costs rupees 31 each and usually shooters use more than 1000 bullets in a tournament, which will pose a huge financial pressure on his family.
India has produced many female shooters in recent years, most prominent being Heena Sidhu and Apurvi Chandela who participated at the Rio Olympics. Apart from the breath-taking 4th place finish in the 10m air rifle event by Abhinav Bindra, the rest of the shooters failed to shine in Rio.
Overall, it was a very disappointing show for the largest ever Indian contingent at the Olympics winning just two medals in the showpiece event but with such sacrifices being made by parents, there could be many more Olympians from India in the future.
