Once a prodigy, Shapath Bharadwaj comes back stronger after hiatus

PUNE: In 2017, Shapath Bharadwaj became a sensation in the shooting fraternity as the then 14-year-old became the youngest to make it to India’s World Cup team.

Almost a decade later and crossing a series of hurdles, the young shooter is back in the Indian team. The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has announced the shotgun team for the Asian Games and the Meerut boy has made it to his first Asiad.

Bhardwaj came into the senior Indian team for double trap in 2017, but his pet event was dropped from the Olympic cycle the following year. He switched to trap in the junior category and took a break in 2023 to pursue his master’s degree in Olympic Studies from the International Olympic Academy in Greece.

“It is a very good feeling to be back in the seniors’ squad. After coming back from Greece last year, it has been very challenging. There were a lot of mental, physical, and technical blocks I had to get rid of,” Bharadwaj told TOI.

The former world no. 16 had an ACL injury just when he thought of making a comeback to the shooting ranges last year.

“ACL injury happened in July last year and I came back in late August. I had to start from the basics,” he said.

Coming back after a hiatus is never easy as a lot of self-doubts creep in. But it wasn’t just self-doubts that bothered Bharadwaj.

“I was told by a lot of people that since I have left shooting, I won’t be able to come back. Some told me that I had talent as a kid but now I have reached my limits. That initially scared me, but I decided to listen to only my parents, mentor and coach,” he said.

“While in Greece, I had thought of leading an easy life by working after my master’s. I had offers for PhD from various universities in Europe, but then once you have been an athlete, it is difficult to choose a path away from sports,” the shooter added.

It wasn’t easy as Bharadwaj had lost government funding and private sponsors.

“I was out of TOPS long back when double trap was removed from the programme. But I was lucky to have OGQ as my support. When I took a break, I lost that cushion. So, coming back with no financial support was psychologically very difficult,” he added.

He clinched silver at the Nationals earlier this year and made it to the seniors’ team in just eight months. Other than the Asiad, he will also be shooting at the World Cup in Lonato, Italy, in July.

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