As Gagan Narang prepares for the Rio Olympic Games, German gun makers Walther on Tuesday presented the Olympic bronze medallist with a technologically advanced air gun, with which he would compete in Brazil in less than 60 days time
Gagan Narang
As Gagan Narang prepares for the Rio Olympic Games, German gun makers Walther on Tuesday presented the Olympic bronze medallist with a technologically advanced air gun, with which he would compete in Brazil in less than 60 days time.
Narang had been using the Walther air gun since he took to shooting 19 years ago, and it was with such a gun that he shot a perfect 600 - a world record.
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Gagan Narang
Considering the arrival of the latest technology, Narang too, had to up hias game and what better choice than the tried and tested Walther. Besides having an electronic trigger, the gun also adjusts to the shooters’ shoulder rather than the other way round. The weight of the gun is lighter than the older model, which should give Narang some advantage.
“I will be using this gun at Rio Olympics. Unlike in the past when one needed to spend much time to get adjusted to the gun, technology has reduced that gap, so it will be easy for me to shoot with this new gun with same or better scores,” said Narang.
Narang said, "I still remember 19 year back, my parents sacrificed selling their house for my dream. For 20 years we stayed in a rental apartment. My parents never complain about it. Initially having my own gun was tough. We wrote a letter to Germany which took a year to reach us back. By then newer technology came into place. However, nowadays getting the latest high-tech guns only takes about a week. I do not want other parents to face the same ordeal as mine and hence decided to start my own academy Gun and Glory"
The gun was presented to Narang by the Wulf Heinz Pflaumer, President of Carl Walther Group in the presence of Alexander Lenert, CEO of Walther Group, Hichem Hanafi, Export Manager, Walther Group and Pawan Singh, Director of Gun For Glory Shooting Academy.
“Besides the weapon and weaponry, what is important is the person holding the gun. I am in fine shape for the Games and the preparations are in full swing. The reduced weight of the trigger is what I was looking for, which this gun has made it possible,” said Narang.
Walther Group, which has been associated with the Gun For Glory Shooting Academy since its inception, announced their whole-hearted support to Gagan Narang’s initiative in popularizing the sport of shooting.
“Narang has taken the sport to the grass root level in India. But there is more work to be done and we are sure that he would achieve it in the coming years,” said Pflaumer.
Pointing out that in Germany football clubs have the largest membership, while shooting follows at the second place.
“We want to see more people in India take to up shooting as a sport. If that happens in the near future then India can produce more Olympics and world champions in shooting,” Pflaumer added.
Walther has supplied 50 guns to the Gun for Glory Shooting Academy over the years since the partnership was forged in 2011.
Speaking about the Academy, Pawan Singh said that they already have started 12 academies across India and have more in the pipeline.
“We keep getting requests from various cities for starting the Gun For Glory Shooting Academy, but currently we have a shortage of coaches. We intend to address that by the year end,” Pawan Singh informed.
While Pune is the headquarters, the second academy in the state is at Dombivali in Mumbai. It was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative that saw Gujarat having several academies - two in Ahmedabad, Rajkot and Vadodara, while Junagad is also in the making.
Also, the Telangana Government is showing keen interest in shooting as a sport and an academy is planned there too, besides the functional center at Hyderabad.
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