Meet Niranjan Reddy, coaching doyen following his passion at 63

Hyderabad: While most of his peers are enjoying a retired life lying around in their backyard and watching the clouds drift by, 63-year-old Niranjan Reddy is busy training young shooters. Reddy, one of the renowned shooting coaches in India, is following his passion to teach shooting by setting up a shooting range in his home […]

Hyderabad: While most of his peers are enjoying a retired life lying around in their backyard and watching the clouds drift by, 63-year-old Niranjan Reddy is busy training young shooters.

Reddy, one of the renowned shooting coaches in India, is following his passion to teach shooting by setting up a shooting range in his home at his own expense. The set-up, which boasts state-of-the-art shooting equipment, was thrown open last year for training.

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“I want to produce world class players and help India win more medals and international trophies,” he says.

Reddy was instrumental in shaping the career of Olympic bronze medalist Gagan Narang. He was the first coach of India’s ace shooter, and they together spent hours and hours training in the basement of the Country Club due to the lack of infrastructure back then.

The veteran won two silvers in 1999 and 2002, and one bronze in 2015 across three editions of the National Shooting Championships. What’s interesting is that he won the bronze at the age of 56 and proved that age is just a number when it comes to following your passion.

Despite his contribution to the sport, Reddy who retired as an RTO in 2017 after working for 33 years in different parts of the state, remains humble to the core. At present, 10 children are being trained under the guidance of the head coach, assisted by Raman Kaur Preet and Dileep.

Every day, the training begins at 4 am and goes on till 7 am. “The children here are disciplined and turn up sharp on time for practice,” said the coach.

The main motto of the academy is Catch Them Young, says Niranjan Reddy who believes that identifying and training children early in their life will foster a love for the sport.

One of his trainees, Leisha Kiran clinched three silver medals in the 10m air pistol championship at the recently concluded VIII Telangana State Shooting Championship Competitions – 2022. The class-five student won medals in Junior Women Individual, Youth Women Individual, and Sub Youth Women Individual events. The shooting guru also found the spark in a few other children who are doing good in the sport.

In the year 2022, Reddy completed the Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) Coaches Foundation Program which was intended to accelerate the development of coaches who can train Indian athletes to become Olympic champions. Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) is a not-for-profit organization founded by Geet Sethi and Prakash Padukone.

The coaching doyen also encouraged the love for the game in his son Sandesh Reddy, who contracted polio during his childhood. But it has never been an obstacle for this zealous sportsman.

Notwithstanding his physical disability, Sandesh Reddy has gone the distance to achieve 7 national medals in shooting. He also won a team silver in the 10m Air pistol event at the ongoing Changwon 2022 Para Shooting World Cup in South Korea.