Vinayak Padmadeo
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 24
Pistol shooter Abhishek Verma has a confession to make. He is missing Gurugram. The 30-year-old has been staying with his parents in Chandigarh ever since the lockdown was enforced. Before Covid-19 threw a spanner in Verma's Olympics dreams, he and his friend Sanju Yadav had developed a shooting range in a shopping mall in Gurugram. It had lighting and all paraphernalia, and the two were proud of the facility.
But now Verma has to make do with a makeshift range in his own bedroom, to satisfy his training pangs. He's fixed the electronic target — provided by his sponsors — in one room and shoots diagonally from the edge of the next room.
"I got the electronic target bolted on my bedroom almirah. We have enough space in the house and I can get one constructed. But it will take time so this was the best possible solution," Verma told The Tribune.
Verma, winner of two ISSF World Cup gold medals last year, added that he is happy he's getting to train. "I am feeling much better now. I am getting to shoot again. There is a mini-gym too in the house," the current world No. 2 said.
Generally shooting early in the day, Verma shifts his attention to gym work in the evening, which is mostly strengthening exercises.
"I shoot for five days and then take a day off. The volume is sporadic. There are days when I shoot 150 rounds and on other days it is significantly lower," Verma said.
'Rana is my coach'
Verma clarified that he is no longer training with his longtime coach Ominder Singh, instead working with Jaspal Rana. "Jaspal sir has been mentoring me since the Asian Games. And I have been consulting him from time to time since then. But I have been training under him fulltime this year," Verma said.
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