Niraj Kumar chose shooting over college and asked his parents for a rifleHere is the story of how he followed his dream despite many challenges.
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Star athlete Niraj Kumar chose shooting over college
After finishing Class 12, Niraj Kumar had to choose what he wanted to do nextWhile his family was planning to use their savings for his college admission, Niraj had a different plan.
Niraj chose a rifle over college as his passion for shooting grew
He asked his parents to spend that money on a rifle instead, as he wanted to build a career in shooting.“I told them, buy me the rifleI will see the college degree laterFirst, I have to shoot,” Niraj recalls.
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The rifle cost around ₹3-3.5 lakh, which was a lot of money for a family with no sports backgroundBut Niraj saw it as a chance to build a career in shootingHe first learned about the sport through the National Cadet Corps (NCC).
Niraj first used a rifle when he was 14 years old in 2014His father, a retired Army officer, had enrolled him in NCC at school because he wanted Niraj to have a chance to join the armed forcesNiraj also played kabaddi, table tennis and basketball in schoolBut over time, shooting became his favourite sport.
Niraj faced money problems but refused to give up on his shooting dream
Niraj learned about the 50m Rifle Prone event through NCCHe started playing in Inter-Battalion and Inter-Group competitionsWinning a few medals, he began to seriously dream about shootingNiraj began to think shooting could be his career as he reached the pre-national levelHe also dreamed of winning an Olympic medal one day.
However, it was not easy to convince his parentsThere was no sportsperson in his family so they were worried about his futureThey were also concerned because shooting is an expensive sportNiraj knew he had to show his parents that he could do well before asking them to spend a lot of money.
His early days were difficultNCC gave him a rifle until his first national competition, but after that, he needed his own equipmentAt one point, Niraj started teaching younger NCC cadets so he could use the last 15-20 minutes of their training to practiseHe also used rented rifles in competitionsBut he soon understood that it would be hard to improve without having his own rifle.
After one competition, he came home upset and started thinking about whether he should continue shooting“That was my breaking pointI thought either I will do it with my own rifle, or I will stopOtherwise, my time would just be wasted.”
