Who is Sandeep Singh?
This question is asked by many from the last few weeks in the Indian shooting fraternity.
So, in this article we are going to discover who Sandeep is and why he has been in the talks recently.
The 28 years old marksman born in Faridkot, Punjab. He did not even consider shooting as a career until he joined the Indian army. Sandeep picked up shooting when he was stationed with the army in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, the site of the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU), where he used to practice at night after his duty in the day.
His army background helped him to lay the foundation stone for shooting discipline, but it was only after he started moving out of AMU for competitions and training, went to places like Bhopal & Delhi, his mind opened up and his shooting began to improve.
For nearly two years, between 2021 and 2023, he barely even practiced. He has competed in just one international event. Now he is in the mix for a Paris Olympics berth, and it would cause a massive upset as the former world champion and WR 1 Rudranksh Patil may lose his place.
The men’s 10m Air rifle category is having a fierce battle between a less experienced and well-seasoned shooters for Paris Olympics qualification for India.
Sandeep finished top in both qualification rounds with a score of 634.4 & 632.6 which strengthened his chances for Olympic qualification. Averages of the best three out of four qualification scores, with bonuses for podium finishes in the final and winning India the quota, will determine the two members Indian contingent.
After such a great performance from Sandeep fans have been comparing him with Chinese shooter Sheng Lihao who has a similar story like him.
Sheng also was nowhere in talks before Tokyo Olympics but later he surprised everyone by not only qualifying for the Olympics but also won a silver medal in Tokyo.
Although Sandeep has a long way to go, as an optimistic fan we can really hope Sandeep may do the unthinkable and end the drought for India in the Olympics in shooting discipline.
