Ace shooter drops gun to take up fish farming

BETTIAH: Once, he was the toast of the town shooting his way to fame and glory. Today, Arimardan Shahi has switched to prawn farming to make a living. Reason? There is neither any sponsor to support this budding shooter nor any shooting range in his home state of Bihar for him to sharpen his skills. "I yearn toturn out for my home state. How long can I sustain myself on borrowed turf?" herued. "I used to practise at the Dr Karni Singh Range in Tughlaqabad (NewDelhi)," said the young shooter, bemoaning that renovation of the shooting rangein New Delhi for the Commonwealth Games has deprived him of crucial training.Arimardan pursues an expensive sport. That is olympic trap or claypigeon shooting. "I need 30,000 cartridges and 15,000 clay pigeons a year topractise regularly. I cannot afford all this without sponsorship," he says,adding that each imported cartridge and clay pigeon costs Rs 20 and Rs 6,respectively. Compared to his event, Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra's 10metre air rifle shooting costs a fraction. Among his string oftrophies won at various national championships, the team silver medal Arimardanwon for India two years ago at the XI Asian Shooting tournament in Kuwait shinesthe brightest. Winning his India colours shooting for Uttarakhand, ababy state that welcomed this Bihari sportsman, this prodigal shooter from ruralChamparan has not shot for the past year as there is no shooting range in Bihar."I've skipped the nationals this year," Arimardan said when TOI caught up withthe Delhi University graduate. "I've borne his expenses as best as Icould. But I cannot support his regular training fully," said Arindam Shahi, theshooter's father, himself a national bronze medallist, adding that evenJharkhand has built a state-of-the-art range for the national games."We are promoting sports in a big way and would definitely supportthe talented shooter whenever a proposal comes," said Bihar sports secretaryVivek Singh. Certainly, the state's sponsoring this sportsmanplaying India's lone medal winning sport in the last two Olympics would bemodest investment in the building of Brand Bihar.