In a heart-warming move, the Delhi State Rifle Association (DSRA) will be honouring two doyens of Indian shooting next month.
The DSRA’s move is an attempt to give back to the community, and there could have been no better way to keep the legacy of legends Mohinder Lal and Sanjay Chakravarty alive than through tournaments that will help spot and nurture talent, something Lal and Chakravarty devoted their lives to.
The two new properties, 1st Mohinder Lal Memorial 25m Pistol Shooting Competition and 1st Sanjay Chakravarty Memorial Shooting Competition for 50m rifle/pistol events, will run concurrently, at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range from July 1-3.
An Arjuna awardee, Mohinder Lal competed in men’s 25m rapid fire pistol at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and later served as chief national pistol coach while serving with the Border Security Force as DIG. He finished seventh in 25m standard pistol at 1990 Beijing Asian Games, and was equally adept in 25m center fire pistol. Apart from his coaching skills, Lal was also an able administrator and helped in the smooth conduct of the several National Championships.
Awarded the Dronacharya Award by the Central government and Dadoji Konddev Award by the Maharashtra government for his contribution to the sport, Sanjay Chakravarty coached some of India’s best talent like Gagan Narang, Anjali Bhagwat, Suma Shirur, Deepali Deshpande, Anuja Jung and Ayonika Paul.
After learning the nuances of shooting during his stint in the Navy, Chakravarty served as national coach and was instrumental in guiding the fortunes of Indian shooters at several Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and World Cups.
Chakravarty’s forte lay in teaching his students to pay attention to visualization and also worked on their mental aspect, which is critical in this precision-based sport.