We recently caught up with Sushil Ghalay, Indian Army Shooter and the current National Champion. Sushil Ghalay is a 7 times National Champion and 3 national records holder. His national record in 300 m 308 caliber Big bore rifle prone at National Championship in Mhow (Madhya Pradesh) in 2009 is still not broken yet. Having participated in most of World’s top shooting events, from World Cup to Commonwealth Games to South Asian Games, Ghalay has come a long way to become the national champion and representing Indian on international competitions.
With an experience of over 18 years in professional shooting, Sushil Ghalay is a veteran in the sports and cherishes the dream of coaching and mentoring youths. He believes that with better infrastructure and guidance, the North-East region can produce and excel in Shooting and represent the country at the world stage.
The following is a discussion between Team GYASA and Sushil Ghalay, the national champion. We are thankful to Sushil Ghalay for taking time out for this interaction, despite losing out an evening of practice and the pressures of performance.
Sushil Bro, Namastey and congratulations on winning gold for 50 meters Rifle Prone at the 17th Kumar Surendra Singh Memorial Shooting Championship last week. You are back to Delhi again for shooting?
Thank You for your wishes. Yes, it’s been two weeks after winning the Gold Medal. Right now, I am here for the Selection Trials for the 2017 Commonwealth Championship. Performance at this event will be crucial for selection into the Indian team for the championship in Brisbane, Australia. (The selection results are out and Sushil is selected for the championship in October this year).
You have come a long way from Darjeeling Hills to Indian Army to National Champion. Can you tell us a little about your background and journey as a shooter?
I was born in Darjeeling Hills and grew up there till I joined the Army in 1998. As any normal kid of our times, I grew up running through the hills with my gyatish (catapult) and playing with friends. In the evenings, friends would gather in a local field and play football and volleyball every day.
Honestly speaking, I did not know anything about shooting before I joined Indian Army. During my training days, officers from my unit noticed that I had an aptitude for shooting and encouraged me to pursue it. As I took up shooting seriously, I fell in love with the sport and ended up being a professional shooter. But I must confess that I would not have imagined myself as a national shooter, had it not been for the Indian army.
Shooting equipment of international standards are not easily available in India and are imported at a very high cost. The ammunition and gears used for international sports are imported at a very high cost. Besides the finances involved, procuring the licenses to use the arms is a daunting task. It requires maintaining very high safety standards because a minor accident could be fatal for someone. Shooting is not as easy as practicing football, volleyball, or cricket.
So, for a common youth from Darjeeling or the North-East region, the cost involved in the early stage of the sports is a huge discouragement. If our governments could build infrastructures and facilities for Shooting, I am sure there are many more talents waiting to be discovered out there.
For me personally, joining the army changed my life and profession. I not only discovered my strength, the army also helped in sharpening and refining the skills I had. As an Indian Army player, there no problems as all the facilities are provided by the services.
When did you take up shooting as a professional sport?
After I joined the Army in 1998 and took up Shooting, I played a lot of tournament within the forces. At the national level, I participated in the 1999 National Shooting Championship in Phillour, Punjab and won Silver. Since then, there has been no looking back. First, it was the hunger to excel in the Army tournaments and win laurels for the Regiment, and then it was the National tournaments representing the Services team, and finally the International tournaments representing India.
Any tournament or competition that is your favorite or memories you cherish?
Every tournament I participate or win has its own special memory. But, if I must pick one from recent memory, I would say that the Men’s 50m Rifle Prone trials at Delhi was very satisfying. It felt good to finish at the top in 3 games, back-to-back. It was a huge motivation to see myself performing better than many other senior peers.
Have you faced disappointments in your shooting career? How did you cope up with it?
Despite having represented India in many international tournaments and championships, the Olympic dream has always eluded me. Missing the London Olympics by a narrow margin of .02 differences was heartening. For any sportsperson, the pride of representing the country in the Olympics cannot be compared with anything else.
But, as they say, ‘life goes on’ and there are always another competition coming up and very soon I found myself preparing for the next tournament.
How do you set your targets and plans?
As a player, it is everybody’s dream to represent the country at the Olympics. But, to realize that dream, there are many tournaments and matches you must go through during qualification and selections.
For me, the next match I am going to play is the most important match. Right now, I am focusing on the selections, and if selected, I will prepare for the actual event at Brisbane in October. Then there will be some other tournament waiting. All these games are important because they will ultimately help me qualify and get selected before getting shortlisted to represent the country at any tournament.
You have been a professional shooter for about 18 long years. What are your plans after retiring from the sports?
After my retirement from the sports, I look forward to contributing to Shooting as a mentor or coach. Sometimes, my friends and I talk about training-academies and coaching, preferably back home in Darjeeling Hills or the North-East. Talking about anything definite is too early at this stage, but Yes, my commitment towards the game will continue even after my retirement.
You are aware of the Gorkhaland statehood agitation in Darjeeling, Dooars, and Terai region of West Bengal. This year, around 10 people have died and the region is shut down for more than 50 days. What do you have to say?
Yes, it is very unfortunate that people are going through so much of difficulties there. Civilians were killed, food supply is stopped, schools shutting down for over 50 days, but the people are still protesting despite all these. The government must take serious steps to end this long-pending issue. Millions of lives, especially the young ones are affected by such agitations recurring now and then.
If there is a state, many more local players will get better exposure to infrastructure and facilities for different sports. Right now, many promising young players from rural background are hesitant to move to Kolkata or elsewhere because of financial challenges, language differences, fears of being discriminated, and all different reasons. It is simply difficult to travel all the way to Kolkata for every paperwork, training camps, and selection trials. Let’s hope the government soon realizes the benefits of resolving the issue permanently and take positive step towards it.
The Crew: Dinesh Sharma, Nabin Pradhan, Gautam Chhetry
About GYASA PATHFINDERS Series: A conversation series by GYASA to bring out stories of achievers and icons from the North-East and Himalayan region. The pathfinders are people who have excelled in their fields of interest through their own hard-work, perseverance, and determination. They have represented the country, region, and their respective states at different forums and inspire young students and players wanting to pursue excellence their fields of interest. Pathfinders are people who have created their own path of success and left trails for others to follow.
No comments:
Post a Comment