Yesterday in Beijing Olympics was quite special for us, Indians. One certain Abhinav Bindra made himself the most eligible bachelor in Indian subcontinent. Our first ever gold medal in Olympics was born, from the hands of Mr. Bindra (25) , who won the gold medal at the World shooting championship for India, for men’s 10m air rifle shooting.
Abhinav hails from a rich Sikh Khatri family. He was born in 1982, September 28. After doing his MBA from the University of Colorado, he went to Germany for his shooting training. He is said to own a shooting range in his farmhouse in Chandigarh and practice 14 hours a day.
Others of Abhinav’s Achievements
* He made a junior world record of 597/600 in 2001 Munich World Cup to win a Bronze.
* In Manchester in 2002 Commonwealth Games, he scored a Gold, thus making himself the first Indian shooter to get a gold in a world championship.
* He won Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in 2001, one of the most prestigious awards for sportsmen in India.
* He won six gold medals in various international meets in Europe during 2001.
* In 2004 Athens Olympics, though he couldn’t win a medal, he broke the Olympic record.
* In Zagreb, July 24, 2006, he became the first Indian shooter to win gold in a world championship.
Abhinav hails from a Punjab Sikh family, though he doesn’t have the popular Sikh surname, Singh. His parents, Dr. Apjit and Babli Bindra, are said to be the promoters of Hitech group, with a revenue of over USD 75 million. Abhinav is the CEO of Abhinav Futuristics, and has tie-ups with large corporations like Samsung and Sahara group.
Besides this achievement, the various states in India offered him bounties, which includes (in US dollars): Punjab (10 million), Hariyana (2.5 million), Maharashtra, Karnataka (1 million each), Tamilnadu, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Chandigarh (0.5 million each) and other bodies like BCCI (2.5 million), Samsung (2 million), Indian Railways (lifelong pass for Bindra and one companion in first class AC compartment in all trains), Spacejet (lifelong flight ticket), etc.
More states and companies are coming up to shower bounties on this 25 year old.
Congratulations! Abhinav!
Copyright © Lenin Nair 2008 (with due contributions from Wikipedia, dailies like The Hindu, Hindustan Times, etc.)
Ahh.. congrats. My nation, Singapore, is still stucked with 2 silver medals.
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