39-year-old Indian shooter Singhraj Adhana made the entire country proud after he won a bronze medal in P1 men’s 10m air pistol SH1 event at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. However, Singhraj believes that he could have won a gold or at least a silver medal had he not been hospitalized due to Covid in May this year.
Singhraj Adhana suffers from polio, for which he has impaired limbs. He comes from a low-income background which made it very hard to pursue his dream of shooting. It was his wife who helped him to pursue the sport, reports TOI.
“Life is tough for any para-athlete. I had polio on both my legs and needed crutches to walk. My wife sold all her jewellery to support by shooting dream,” he says.
In May, after suffering from severe Covid infection, Singhraj was hospitalised for three weeks. After recovering, he wanted to start training straight away but the lockdown-induced restrictions came in the way.
“Missing out on so much training, I wasn’t able to sleep properly. I started thinking that my dream of winning a medal is over. That’s when my coaches suggested why not try building a range at home,” he said.
It was an extremely expensive affair, amounting to lakhs of rupees. But with the help of his family and coach, he was soon able to get an international level range built.
“My mother only asked me to ensure that we are able to feed ourselves later on if something went wrong. But thanks to my family and coaches’ support, the green signal and help from the Paralympic Committee of India and NRAI, we succeeded in my mission and the range was soon up and running,” he said.
He went on to recall, “I drew the layout overnight and my coaches told me that if at all we are building a range then it has to be of international level as it would then help me for not just Tokyo but also the 2024 Paris Games. That’s why I am here today.”
What an inspiration this man is!