Hriday Hazarika wins gold in 10m Air Rifle
World Shooting Championship
Our Sports Reporter
GUWAHATI: Another young talent from Assam has marked his line in International field as the 17-year-old shooter Hriday Hazarika won a gold medal on Friday in 10m Air rifle on men's category (junior) at the World Shooting Championship in South Korea's Changwon.
Hazarika was the only Indian to qualify for the final with a score of 627.3. He was in a tie with Iran's Mohammed Amir Nekounam on 250.1 once the field was pruned to the regulation top eight.
The Indian shooter, however, claimed the top honours after prevailing in a shoot-off at the prestigious International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) tournament.
Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs and Sports, Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore, took to twitter to congratulate Hriday on this feat.
Hailing from a non-sporting family of Narayanpur in Lakhimpur district he is the son of Dr. Sarat Hazarika, principal of Madhabdev college and teacher Iva Hazarika.
At youth levels domestically, Hriday has been performing well for some years now. He started shooting some years ago from a shooting range in Guwahati and qualified for the Kumar Surendra Singh National Championships soon after.
It was at the championships that Hriday showcased his talents as he created a Junior national record.
Since then, Hriday participated in and won many honors domestically. Amongst his most notable victories was a clean sweep during the Sardar Sajjan Singh Sethi Masters Shooting Championships in New Delhi. The youngster took part in three events and claimed the Gold medal in all three of those.
He came to Khelo India with high hope. Khelo India was a newly launched initiative by the Sports Ministry at the wish of the Prime Minister which allowed U-17 sportspersons to take part in an Olympic-styled tournament.
Going into the competition, Hriday was ranked no. 1 in the NRAI charts and was expected to bag a medal.
The youngster even finished at the top of the qualifying charts of his event- 10m Air Rifle- but could only manage to finish sixth during the final.
Hriday bagged 10m air rifle Gold at ISSF junior World Cup which was held in Suhl, Germany in June, 2018. He shot a score of 248.7 in the final to finish top.
He also regularly practices shooting at Assam Rifle and Shooting Association shooting range under the guidance of Bhaba Kalita, secretary of the State shooting body.
