After finishing Class 12, Niraj Kumar had to choose what he wanted to do next. While his family was planning to use their savings for his college admission, Niraj had a different plan.
Niraj chose a rifle over college as his passion for shooting grew
He asked his parents to spend that money on a rifle instead, as he wanted to build a career in shooting.“I told them, buy me the rifle. I will see the college degree later. First, I have to shoot,” Niraj recalls.
The rifle cost around ₹3-3.5 lakh, which was a lot of money for a family with no sports background. But Niraj saw it as a chance to build a career in shooting. He first learned about the sport through the National Cadet Corps (NCC).
Niraj first used a rifle when he was 14 years old in 2014. His father, a retired Army officer, had enrolled him in NCC at school because he wanted Niraj to have a chance to join the armed forces. Niraj also played kabaddi, table tennis and basketball in school. But over time, shooting became his favourite sport.
Niraj faced money problems but refused to give up on his shooting dream
Niraj learned about the 50m Rifle Prone event through NCC. He started playing in Inter-Battalion and Inter-Group competitions. Winning a few medals, he began to seriously dream about shooting. Niraj began to think shooting could be his career as he reached the pre-national level. He also dreamed of winning an Olympic medal one day.
However, it was not easy to convince his parents. There was no sportsperson in his family so they were worried about his future. They were also concerned because shooting is an expensive sport. Niraj knew he had to show his parents that he could do well before asking them to spend a lot of money.
His early days were difficult. NCC gave him a rifle until his first national competition, but after that, he needed his own equipment. At one point, Niraj started teaching younger NCC cadets so he could use the last 15-20 minutes of their training to practise. He also used rented rifles in competitions. But he soon understood that it would be hard to improve without having his own rifle.
After one competition, he came home upset and started thinking about whether he should continue shooting. “That was my breaking point. I thought either I will do it with my own rifle, or I will stop. Otherwise, my time would just be wasted.”
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