Bull's Eye

On 11th of August 2008, a new page in the Indian history was opened and a new topic written in it, a 25 year old young lad the reason behind. Yes ABHINAV BINDRA a roaring Singh of Punjab has clinched GOLD in men's 10-meter air rifle event, fulfilling the wishes and prayers of billions of people and Independent Mother India getting her first ever Olympic Gold medal in any individual event. The shooting ace placed fourth in his entry to the final, shot off to fame with him hitting nearly the bull's eye at 10.8 (the maximum being 10.9). With Bindra equally placed with Henri till the last shot and needing 10.4 in his final shot to win the Gold, he shot a massive 10.8 which brought him into the limelight. His hardwork and determination have definitely made him go places. The Silver and bronze were bagged by Zhu Qinan of China and Henri Hakkinen of Finland respectively.

As he had said "I have worked hard for this. It was my day. I have always believed that I could do this and am happy to have done it. I have been in the sport for ten years, and I know that the difference between winning and losing is not much. I didn't do anything very different today" it was his day and he deserved to win and he won. He has made both his family and in turn his country proud. Hats off to him for his achievement.

This win has raised the hopes of India and it should definitely trigger the spirit in all those participating in the Beijing Olympics. On part of India, it should certainly give a face lift to all the sports and sportsperson instead of concentrating on a single sport.

Few Achievements of Abhinav Bindra:-
- At 15, being the youngest participant at the 1998 Commonwealth Games he won a bronze in the 2001 Munich World Cup with a new junior world record score of 597/600.
- In the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games, competing in his pet Air rifle event, Bindra won Gold in the Pairs event and Silver in the individual event. During a purple patch, Bindra won six gold medals at various international meets in the European Circuit in 2001. He was conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for the year 2001.
- On July 2006, Bindra became the first Indian shooter to win a World Championship gold in Zagreb betttering the previous record held by Dr.Karni Singh for winning Silver in 1962.