Indian shooter Gagan Narang revels as TV commentator

It is a nice feeling when you come to a place where you have fine memories. The 2010 Commonwealth Games came back to my mind when I was in my top form," the London Olympic bronze medallist said.

Hyderabad: Gagan Narang was back at his favourite hunting ground, not as a competitor but in a new role as a commentator for the Sony Network for the ongoing Shooting World Cup at Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range in Delhi. The 37-year-old Hyderabad marksman had played a big part in India’s fine show in the 2010 Commonwealth Games when he shot four gold medals to emerge as best sportsman of the meet.

“It is a nice feeling when you come to a place where you have fine memories. The 2010 Commonwealth Games came back to my mind when I was in my top form,” the London Olympic bronze medallist said. It was in this venue that Narang upstaged the Beijing Olympics gold medallist Abhinav Bindra in the 10m air rifle event for the gold medal.

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Shooting has come a long way since then. “Even today I have goosebumps when I see the National Anthem being played and when the Indian Flag is hoisted whenever our shooters win a gold medal or any other medal. The Indian shooters have been excellent and have dominated the championship so far. I always believed shooting is one discipline where India can win medals, be it in Olympics, Asian Games or Commonwealth Games.”

Coming to his new role, Gagan pointed out that he is lucky to have someone like veteran commentator Charu Sharma. “He has been of great support and taught me the intricacies of commentating. Shooting is different from other sports like cricket, badminton or soccer where there is a lot of action. Here, we have to be patient and analytical,” he said.

“It is a learning process. I do my homework and you have to make it interesting while describing any event. It is a different challenge. I concentrate on the technical point of the game. Voice modulation is important. I control my emotions whenever an Indian wins a medal. I just say ‘what a shot’. Since shooting is unlike any other sport which is easy to understand, I have to explain and make it interesting to the viewers of the various events like 10m air rifle, 25m pistol events etc,” Narang added.

Narang was also in the news as a Good Samaritan. He readily agreed to give a gun to Yemeni shooter Amal Mudhsh who participated in the women’s 10m air rifle event from his Gun for Glory Academy. Amal Mudhsh landed in New Delhi with no rifle or shooting gear. Coming from a country ravaged by years of war, she couldn’t afford any so Narang agreed to the request from the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI). “I decided to support this shooter with ammunition after speaking to Walther, the German group,” he shared.

Incidentally, Amal is a mother of two – a girl and baby boy. She left her elder daughter back home but had to bring her nine-month-old boy Amir with her to New Delhi.

For Narang, this World Cup is truly a memorable one and the icing on the cake was when Elavenil Valarivan of Gun For Glory won the 10m air rifle mixed team gold with Divyansh Singh Panwar. “It is a proud moment,” he said.