Ajay Raina
JAMMU, Oct 3: Hailing from the mountainous belt in Jammu and Kashmir and son of a farmer, Chain Singh has appealed the J&K Government to promote the game of shooting in the State. There are many youth, who want to be the part of this game, but due to non-availability of the equipments and the firing range, they can not realize their dream, he added.
Jammu Shooter Chain Singh said this during an exclusive interview with the EXCELSIOR after winning the bronze medal for India during 17th Asian Games in South Korea.
“It is proudest moment for me to win bronze medal in the 17th Asian Games in Shooting for India”, he added.
Singh credited this victory to his family members and his lovers across the country and sought blessings from them to make India proud in the Olympic Games.
During a query, Singh revealed that before going for finals in the 17th Asian Games at South Korea I wanted to talk to my parents, but my Coach Stas Lapitus restricted me. Firstly I felt dejected but then made up my mind to clinch a medal, which I did. I later called my parents and told them about my victory.
“Being a resident of militancy hit Jammu and Kashmir, I appeal to the youths to participate in sports activities and take the State to new heights not only in national but at international level also”, Singh stated when asked for a message for J&K youths.
Army marksman Chain Singh won the hearts of crores of Indians especially his lovers at his native village Chainser in Gandoh of district Doda, by clinching bronze medal in the 50M 3-Position Rifle Shooting Event at the 17th Asian Games held at South Korea recently. After clinching the bronze medal, Singh took the Indian medal tally in shooting to 9, one more than in 2010 at Guangzhou, China.
Apart from this, Chain Singh had earlier participated in various National and International Level Shooting Competitions and won one Gold and 3 Bronze medals at International level and 21 gold, 6 silver and 7 bronze medals at National level.
Chain Singh’s father Man Raj, a farmer by profession worked day and night so that Chain Singh could study. His mother Neelam Devi is a house wife and always encouraged Chain Singh for sports especially shooting.
At the age of 3, Chain Singh started his education from Government High School, Inharrah and after completing class 10th with good percentage, Singh joined Government Higher Secondary School, Kalothran, Gandoh for class XI and XII.
In the year 2007, Chain Singh attended Army rally and got enrolled, when he was appearing in the final exams of Class XII. He was appointed as ‘Sepoy’ in JAKLI Regiment in March 2007 and went to Srinagar for training.
During training, Chain Singh expressed his willingness to participate in the Young Blood Championship. He got basic training from coaches Subedar Arjun Singh and Subedar Mohammad Nawaz. With the stringent efforts of his coaches, Singh performed well in the championship held in the year 2008.
After performing well in the Young Blood Championship, Chain Singh was inducted in the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) as a young blood shooter in February 2008.
Chain Singh started his shooting career in the Army in year 2008 and was subjected to technical, physical, mental and psychological training in a scientific manner which was provided by the support staff at Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU).
In October 2008, Singh got selected for Pre-National Shooting Competition held at Jalandhar, where he claimed Bronze medal in Air Rifle event (Junior) and gold medal in 3 Position (Junior).
After that, Chain Singh played first national competition “52nd National Shooting Championship” at Kerala in the year 2008, where he claimed Bronze medal in Air rifle event and gold medal in 3 Position.
Moving onwards with a dream to represent India in the Olympic Games, he later got selected for Junior International Shooting Competition, which was held at Germany. In this competition, he played final at 8th place and after giving best performance Chain Singh got first rank in Junior Men Category.
In the year 2009, 3rd Asian Air Gun Shooting Competition was held at Doha, in which Chain Singh again secured bronze medal and made the Country proud in general and Jammu and Kashmir State in particular. It is to mention that, before this competition, Chain Singh was at his home in Chainser to attend the marriage ceremony of his sister, which he had to skip when he received a call that he has been selected for this competition.
In 53rd NSCC held in the year 2009 at Jalandhar, Chain Singh clinched gold medals in 50 Meter 3 Position and 50 Meter Prone position. In the year 2011, Chain Singh participated in 55th NSCC which was held at Pune. In this competition, he bagged bronze medal in 10 Meter Air Rifle event.
Chain Singh participated in 56th NSCC in the year 2012 and in 10 Meter Air Rifle event, he defeated Olympic Champion Abhinav Bindra and claimed gold medal. After this, he was selected for ISSF World Cup in 2012 which was held at Germany, USA and Italy, where he remained at 20th, 25th and 19th places respectively.
In 2014, India got gold medal in Air Rifle Men event at Kuwait during 7th Asian Championship. Chain Singh won this medal with a score of 206. To participate in this Championship, Chain Singh traveled around 11 kilometer on foot from his house to the motorable point in district Doda, as he was at home, when he got selected for the competition.
In 2014, Singh got selected for ISSF World Championship which was held in Spain. In this competition, Singh performed best and was later selected for 17th Asian Games to be held at Korea and bagged bronze medal.
This sterling performance brought laurels and fulfilled the Indian Army and Army Marksmanship Unit’s promise to the nation.
Singh’s younger brother Surinder Singh is doing MA from University of Jammu, while his sister Pooja Devi is married. Behind Surinder Singh’s studies and marriage of his sister, Chain Singh played a very important role as he was the only source of income for his family after getting enrolled in the Army.
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