Opinion | The shooting range constructed by the Indian Army is first of its kind in Kishtwar, an endeavour to identify and train talent from this region!

This is a story of a living legend, a shooter who loved 50 meters targets in the discipline of shooting in the Olympics! The name: Chain Singh Indian Army!

_‘Don’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.”

-‘He was in Kishtwar but for what? (this we will tell you later in the script)!

-‘Chain Singh is a Subedaar in Indian Army but he had something in him which was a God’s gift, ‘A perfect eye and right hand index finger combination and thus he proved that he was a perfect marksman!’

-‘I believe that time and again he must have told the young budding shooters that, when we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too! In other words, always aspiring to inspire!’

– His batch mates do recall that he always told them, ‘sometimes you wake up. Sometimes the fall kills you. And sometimes, when you fall, you fly. Fables and  reflections were part of his heart and soul and everyone in the unit knew that he would make it big! For sure he did!

-‘The storyline we had was that the ace Olympics Shooter Subedar Chain Singh inaugurated the 10 M indoor shooting range at Dul, Kishtwar. The shooting range, constructed by the Indian Army is first of its kind in Kishtwar, an endeavour to identify and  train talent from this region!’ We had to dig deeper and that is what we precisely did!

-‘That is what I call innovativeness and a classic execution with a futuristic vision!’

-‘Incidentally India has been exceptionally good in the shooting circuit as far as the Olympics go!

-The legacy goes about half a century ago when Karni Singh from Bikaner began his sporting career in Bikaner! Whether the range still exists or not I do not know but when back in the late in 1990’s of the last century I did see it amidst plenty of sand!’

-‘Karni Singh won the National Championship in Clay Pigeon Trap and Skeet seventeen times and represented India at all levels of international competition. He was the first Indian to compete at five Olympic Games, which he did from 1960 to 1980, missing the Games of 1976, representing India at clay pigeon shooting at the Summer Olympics in Rome, 1960, Tokyo, 1964 (Captain), Mexico, 1968, Munich, 1972, and Moscow, 1980. His best positions in competition were eighth in 1960 and tenth in 1968. But whatever be the standings, he had set standards for shooting for the young men to follow!’

-‘He (Karni) represented his country in the World Shooting Championships at Oslo in 1961, and the next year won a silver medal at the 38th World Shooting Championships in Cairo, after tying for 1st place, captaining the Indian team. He also competed in the World Shooting Championships at Wiesbaden in 1966, again captaining the team, and at Bologna in 1967 and San Sebastian in 1969. He competed in the Asian Shooting Championships at Tokyo in 1967 and at Seoul in 1971, where he won a gold medal.’

-‘He won a silver medal at the Asian Games in Tehran, 1974, and another in the Asian Games at Kuala Lumpur in 1975.’

-‘He had set the legacy and the baton was picked up by another Singh and it was Chain!’ The idea in the mind of the young soldier at that time (not that he has gone old now) was clear’! He wanted to put India at the top of the shooting championships in the world And he did that!’

-Subedar Chain Singh is an Indian sport shooter and a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) in the Indian Army. He won the Bronze medal at the 2014 Asian Games in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions event. He won an individual Gold medal in the 7th Asian Airgun championship Kuwait. He won six Gold medals, three in individual events and three in team events, in the 2016 South Asian Games!’

-‘That is exactly the reason as to why he was given the honor to inaugurate the indoor 10 M indoor shooting range in Kishtwar for young boys and girls who want to compete at the top level in this sports discipline which requires skill, concentration and that combination of the eye and the all important index finger!’ So it’s a game on for kids of Kishtwar!

By: MS. Nazki

(Additional inputs by Major Kulbir  Singh)

Jammu/Mendhar:

-‘We were not present on the occasion but the picture suggested it all. It was a message being conveyed to the budding sportsmen and the shooters and the broad smile said it all, ‘hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird, that cannot fly. Kids of Kishtwar it is time to take a flight to infinite zones where opportunities are galore. Do not shut yourself in linen cupboards , there is much more on the horizon!’

-The illustrious career of Subedar Chain Singh:

Chain Singh was a Bronze medalist in the 2014 Asian Games at Incheon in South Korea. He won a Bronze medal in the men’s 50m rifle three positions event, scoring 441.7 points to finish behind two Chinese shooters – Cao Yifei and Zhu Qinan – who scored 455.5 and 455.2 points respectively.  In 2014. 7th Asian Airgun championship Singh won an individual Gold medal in the 7th Asian Airgun Championship which was held in Kuwait from 7 March to 15 March. His final score was 206 points. followed by Qin Cong and Liu Zhiguo of China. In 2015 National Games National Games of India were held from 31 January to 14 February across seven districts of Kerala, Chain won 3 individual medals (2 Gold and 1 Bronze) followed by 3 team Gold medals in all 3 Rifle shooting events. He set a national record in the 50-metre 3-position event by earning 1181/1200 points, which was also his personal best. He participated in two events in the International Shooting Competition at Hannover, Germany during April 2015. In the FR Prone he won Gold and in Air Rifle Silver. The next was the 2016 South Asian games. Singh bagged six Gold medals in the 12th South Asian Games held at Guwahati in India in 2016. He won all his events and secured his spot for the Rio Olympics.  2016 Rio Olympics was the champagne time. Singh represented the country in the Rio Olympic Games in rifle shooting (50 m 3-position event) which was held in Brazil, where he  was placed 23rd. Chain Singh won more than 50 medals in National Shooting Championships. In the XXI Commonwealth Games Australia. Held at Gold Coast from 4 April to 15 April 2018, where he placed 4th in 50 m rifle prone men event and 5th in 50 m rifle 3 position event.  Then came the ISSF World Cup, Munich. Chain Singh won silver medal at ISSF world cup (Grand Prix) Munich in Germany 2018 with a score of 627.9 points in the 50-meter rifle prone event.

The story had to continue when he was there to inaugurate the indoor firing range! The test of a human ability starts when everything he has gained and what is there to gain in life? Two things matter the most to a soldier, one is name and the other is fame so that the people remember him! Wealth comes last though it is still important! For sure the first two Chain Singh has earned and now it’s time to widespread it! ‘The art of shooting and winning’!

Perhaps this was the aim in the mind of Olive Greens who constructed this firing range to see how the kids of the future respond to the sport of shooting! Needless to mention it’s going to be an exciting adventure!

Every story has a conclusion and I will conclude this one for the kids of the future of Jammu and Kashmir especially those who live in the interiors and a bit deprived of exposure, ‘don’t just think that you will be like this forever, don’t just learn, experience. Don’t just read, absorb. Don’t just change, transform. Don’t just relate, advocate. Don’t just promise, prove. Don’t just criticize, encourage. Don’t just think, ponder. Don’t just take, give. Don’t just see, feel. Don’t just dream, do. Don’t just hear, listen. Don’t just talk, act. Don’t just tell, show. Don’t just exist, live. Trust me the game of life will be yours so just do it