From rented rifles and limited resources to the national squad, Niraj’s journey has been driven by an Olympic dream….reports India Daily News Desk
When Niraj Kumar finished Class 12, his family was preparing to spend their savings on his college education. But the young shooter had a different plan. He asked his parents to use the money to buy him a rifle so he could pursue shooting professionally.
Years later, that gamble has taken Niraj to the Indian shooting squad for the Asian Games in Japan, which begin on September 19.
“I told them, buy me the rifle. I will see the college degree later. First, I have to shoot,” Niraj recalled, according to a release from the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).
The rifle cost around Rs 3-3.5 lakh — a substantial amount for a family with no sporting background. But for Niraj, it represented a chance to turn a childhood interest into a career.
His association with shooting began when he was just 14. In 2014, his father, a retired Army officer, enrolled him in the National Cadet Corps (NCC) at school, hoping it would eventually help his son pursue a career in the armed forces.
Niraj had already participated in sports such as kabaddi, table tennis and basketball, but shooting quickly stood out. Through the NCC, he was introduced to the 50m Rifle Prone event and began taking part in Inter-Battalion and Inter-Group competitions.
As medals began to arrive, his interest turned into ambition. By the time he reached the pre-national level, Niraj had begun to see shooting as a possible career and set himself an ambitious target — winning an Olympic medal.
However, his parents were initially reluctant to support such an uncertain career path. Shooting was expensive and there was no sportsperson in the family. Niraj realised he first had to demonstrate that he was serious.
The NCC provided him with a rifle until his first national competition, after which he had to find his own equipment. He even began teaching younger NCC cadets so he could use the final 15-20 minutes of their training sessions to practise. At competitions, he sometimes used rented rifles.
The limitations eventually pushed him to a breaking point.
“That was my breaking point. I thought either I will do it with my own rifle, or I will stop. Otherwise, my time would just be wasted,” he said.
His parents eventually trusted his conviction and bought him the rifle. The investment soon began to pay off. Niraj won a junior silver at the National Championships in 2016 before claiming junior gold in 2017.
Those results also helped him pursue another ambition born during his NCC years — joining the Indian Navy.
After winning his first national medal, Niraj approached a Navy coach about joining the force through shooting. He was initially told he was too young and would need to return after winning another medal.
He did exactly that. After claiming national gold the following year, Niraj joined the Indian Navy through its sports quota in January 2018.
For his parents, the Navy offered the financial and professional security they had wanted for their son. For Niraj, it gave him a stable platform from which to continue chasing sporting success.
“That was my breaking point. I thought either I will do it with my own rifle, or I will stop.”
– Niraj Kumar
“They told me that now my future is secure from their side and that I could fly as high as I wanted,” he recalled.
Niraj later moved from the prone discipline to the more technically demanding 50m Rifle 3 Positions event, which involves kneeling, prone and standing positions. The transition required him to develop new skills, often without the benefit of a dedicated coach.
During 2018 and the first half of 2019, he spent hours watching International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) videos on YouTube to study techniques. He also observed senior shooters and sought advice from national coaches after entering the national setup.
His efforts eventually took him onto the international stage. He won a junior medal at the Asian Championships in 2019, while several coaches and senior athletes contributed to his development. Foreign coach Thomas Farnik, who joined the Indian squad in 2022, later became one of the most influential figures in his career.
NRAI support also played a key role as Niraj progressed through the junior and senior national systems.
“When I came into the junior squad, I started going for national camps. There were four-five camps in a year, and that gave me a proper platform to train and improve,” he said.
He also credited the federation’s wider support system, including coaches, physiotherapists, psychologists and nutritionists, for allowing athletes to focus on performance.
“The federation has supported us very well, and it has given us a proper pathway towards our goal of winning an Olympic medal,” Niraj said.
His journey has also been helped by close friends. Sumesh, a friend from his early days in shooting, supported him when resources were scarce and even shared training ammunition with him.
For his family, the journey has transformed their initial uncertainty into pride. His father remains one of his biggest supporters, while his elder brother serves in the Army. His mother, a homemaker with little exposure to competitive shooting, first watched Niraj compete on television during the 2021 Delhi World Cup, when he reached the final.
The decision to invest their college savings in a rifle has since become a defining moment in Niraj’s journey. Now, as he prepares to represent India at the Asian Games, the shooter is continuing to chase the Olympic dream that first took shape during his NCC days.
