Last Saturday when Sarabjot Singh missed the final of the men’s 10m air pistol event after hitting one inner 10 shot fewer than German Robin Walter, the 22-year-old from Ambala could not control his tears. When his farmer father Jatinder Singh Sahansweral called him in the evening, the conversation would play a big role in Sarabjot clinching an Olympic bronze medal with Manu Bhaker in the mixed 10m air pistol event at the Chateauroux Shooting Range.
Sarabjot and Manu defeated Koreans Oh Ye Jin and Lee Wonho 16-10 in the bronze medal contest to secure their place on the podium. There was a bit of drama towards the end when the Koreans made a little comeback, but the Indian duo wasn’t denied.
Sarabjot’s father said that not getting too down on himself played a part in the turnaround in the youngster’s fortunes.
“Kisan da puttar hai, dil thoda chadi da (You are a farmer’s son, don’t be disheartened),” his father recalls what he told him. “Sarabjot is very emotional about his shooting. That’s what he has passionately done for the last 10 years and that’s what I reminded him when he missed the final. I have always taught him to forget the past and look ahead and we are glad that he forgot the disappointment and has now won an Olympic medal,” Sahansweral told The Indian Express.
Talking about Sarabjot’s initiation in the sport, he said it took place during a school camp at a nearby village under coach Shakti Rana in 2014. A pistol was shared by more than 30 trainees. But when the academy closed in 2016, Sarabjot joined the Shooters Terrace Academy at Ambala Cantt under coach Abhishek Rana. With no direct buses from his village to Ambala Cantt, Sarabjot would park his bicycle at a friend’s place and catch the bus to Ambala.
India’s Manu Bhaker, left, and teammate Sarabjot Singh compete in the 10m air pistol mixed team qualification round at the 2024 Summer Olympics. (AP)
“Sometimes, when I did not have work in the mandi or on days when he won a medal, Sarabjot would ask me to drop or pick him at the bus stand on the motorcycle. But on most days, he would cycle for more than three kms before catching the bus. There were days when he would return home at 7pm, but he never complained,” says Sahansweral.
It was only in early 2017 that the father bought Sarabjot his first pistol after the youngster had won a youth bronze in the nationals. Sahansweral shares the story behind it.
“When he won the bronze at the Nationals, he called me and asked, ‘Papa, apan navin pistol le sakde han?’ I said ‘of course’ without thinking about how. Those were the days just after demonetisation and cash flow in the mandi was limited. I had to borrow Rs 1.70 lakh from a commission agent to get Sarabjot his own pistol. I also tilled the land with a tractor on nearby farms at Rs 1,000 per day for arranging more funds,” remembers the father.
Rapid rise
A gold at the Junior World Cup and Asian championships in 2019 would mean that Sarabjot would get his first cash award from the Haryana government the following year.
“When I first met him, like other village boys, he was strong physically. He told me that he assisted his father on the farm and I knew standing for long won’t be a problem for him. He had a natural grip but it took some time to perfect his triggering movement. Initially, he would shoot scores of 577-78 but then he improved to 584-585,” says coach Abhishek Rana.
A young Sarabjot with coach Abhishek Rana and father. (Special arrangement)
Two World Cups titles in the last 18 months, apart from fourth- place finishes, and a bronze in the Asian Championships last year, where he bagged the Paris quota for India, meant that Sarabjot was in fine form in the Olympic trials too, where he shot scores of 579, 581, 581 and 584.
On Saturday, Singh had shot 577 before Walter edged him out for the final spot. “Sarabjot had suffered a shoulder injury last year after winning the title at the Bhopal World Cup. He had scores of 585, 581, 581 and 589 in the four World Cups during the last 18 months. He is a slow starter in finals, but can make up once he is set. We did talk about the miss on Saturday but I am glad that he recovered soon. We also had him shooting in the mixed format with other shooters at the academy and worked on him based on his scores,” says Rana.
Though Singh got his family a new SUV recently from the Asian Games prize money, father Sahansweral knows how Sarabjot would spend the cash awards.
“He likes riding our old motorbike with his friends. But he knows he is a farmer’s son and whatever cash award he gets, he asks me to buy more farmland,” says the proud father.
