Meet the rising Indian Olympian: Apurvi Chandela's best career moments

Rajasthan has produced hundreds of quality shooters but Jaipur's Apurvi Chandela is an exception. She deserves a special mention here because every year we have seen Indian shooters put in excellent performances on the international circuit, but mostly it has just been the men who outshined. This year, Apurvi Chandela seems to have broken that bar. The rising shooter has secured a quota for the Rio Olympics and is being considered as one of the finest sportswomen this year who could bring a medal home from the 2016 Olympics.

Apurvi Chandela - the rising shooter (Picture Credit:
mensxp.com)

'I will put in my hundred percent in the Olympics," promises Apurvi Chandela, who took up shooting after watching Abhinav Bindra win gold in the Beijing Olympics, reported by Rediff.com.

Though she was a little late to realise her true calling and after toying with various weapons, the 23-year-old daughter of a city-based businessman  favoured the rifle and started shooting her way to a successful career. Let’s take a look at the star shooter’s best career moments before Olympics hits off:

• Apurvi first came into limelight in the year 2011. That year she made the cut to the national junior team and finished ninth in the Asian Championships with a score of 391.
• But it wasn’t until her maiden(her first year on the senior circuit) National Championships in 2012 when she made India proud after clinching the bronze medal, also repeatedly won in 2013 and 2014.
• The year 2013 turned out to be in Apurvi’s favour as she fired her career best of 413.7 in the new scoring system in World Cup Shooting Competition at Fort Benning in the US. She was named the best among Indian shooters at the event.

Apurvi Chandela after winning the Gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow (Picture Credit:
timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

• But not many had heard of Apurvi Chandela before 2014, when her talent appeared amongst some strong players on the global stage. The shooter won the Gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, giving a particular reason to Indians to celebrate.
• After that, stopping her was impossible. She sealed a berth for Rio 2016, by winning the bronze at the 2015 Changwon World Cup and became the first Indian woman to qualify for the Rio Games. Then a few months later she notched up the silver at the Munich World Cup Finals.
• This year, Apurvi Chandela created history by breaking a world record on her way to winning gold at the 10m air rifle event at Swedish Cup Grand Prix. She shot 208.9 in the final to clinch the top prize and was also named the 'Shooter of the Tournament'.

Apurvi Chandela is undoubtedly our favourite amongst the Indians to win a medal at the Rio Olympics. Who do you favour? Tell us in the comment section below.

More On Our series: The Countdown to Rio

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