Born to Sanket Agarwal
and Sonia Agarwal at Singtam, she is 14 years old and studying at Ecole Globale
International Girl’s School, Dehradun. Unlike her father and her grandfather Raghubir
Agarwal, both accomplished businessmen; she took up Air Rifle shooting sport
at her school at Dehradun. Meet Devanshi Agarwal who made history last August
in the 17th Uttrakhand Open State Shooting Championship 2018 held at Poudha. She
went on to win five gold medals and a bronze medal, most by any individual. Believe
me, it was Devanshi’s second tournament she had participated.
Despite being a
sensation at her game, shooting event is rarely heard in Sikkim. The success story
of Devanshi should inspire the youngsters of our state into this sporting event.
She is a winner in her teens, who knows she could be the next big thing to
watch at a national level or even at an international circle.
The last one and half
years had been a wonderful spell for Devanshi. She had bagged 17 medals that
include nine gold, five silver, and three bronze. Her medals had come at Inter-School State Championships, CBSE Nationals held at Punjab, and CBSE Cluster held
at Karnal. She is the best shooter in her school and in her win, she had outclassed
several International participants from her school.
Devanshi gives credit
for her success to Shiv Lal Dogra, her coach. He had been a guiding force behind
each sport-players of the school, she tells. After completing her early
schooling at East Point SSS, Singtam, and Holy Cross School, Gangtok joined Ecole
Globale International Girl’s School, Dehradun in 2017. It was her father’s idea
to take Devanshi into Shooting. He spoke with Shiv Lal Dogra, Head of
Department, Sports of her school. Trails were arranged and thereafter she never
looked back. Devanshi tells she never had participated in any form of shooting
events before joining Ecole Globale International Girl’s School, so she feels
very good when she looks into her recent success.
Devanshi participates
at 10 meters .177 (Peep Sight) Air Rifle events. The Air Rifle used for the
competition is 4.8 kilogram and .177, the caliber of the pellets. The distance
between the rifle and the target is 10 meters; to add the participants need to
wear a leather dress that weighs around 5 kg in order to balance the weight of
the body with that of a rifle. It’s all about mental strength and physical
strength is the major challenge while preparing for this particular event,
she says.
She believes shooting
is a mind game; it helped her in concentrating on her studies too. I have
learned to manage time. I get up in the morning at 5 am for my practice and
after that, I move ahead for my classes in the afternoon. Shooting is also
challenging in a way that we have to go for many tours missing our studies
after which we need to cope by taking extra classes. Our teachers are always
willing to help us in this regard, she further added.
Her dream is to represent
Sikkim at the National level once an association is formed by the State Government
and then to represent India in Asian Games and other international events. Devanshi
recalls Tusitta Rai, another girl from Sikkim who is also doing wonder at 10
mts .177 (Peep Sight) Air Pistol at National Inter-School Competition. She
believes gradually the sport will have a promising growth in the state too.
She follows national
shooting champions a lot. She has high regard for Abinav Bindra, Gagan Narang,
Heena Sindhu, and Jitu Rai. Each of them had exchanged positive feedback, she
says. But it is her father whom she considers her role model. In her words she
tells, he is always by my side, whether I am excelling or gradually going down
at the time, because of his constant support and love this is where I am today,
proudly known as a National Level shooter. It is all because of my Dad and my
family’s constant support. Everybody inspires me a lot in some way or the other
way, be it my lovely mother Sonia Agarwal and my grandmother Nirmala Devi
Agarwal, she added.
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