Shooter wins medals in Asian Skeet Shooting Championship

A student of Apeejay College of Fine Arts, Harmehar Singh Lali has brought laurels by winning medals in the 16th Asian Skeet Shooting Championship held recently at Kazakhstan.

A fifth-semester student of Bachelor of Design, Lali secured gold medals in the Skeet Shooting Junior Team (Men) and Skeet Shooting Junior Mixed Team events, along with a silver medal in the Skeet Shooting Junior Men Individual category.

His performance has not only brought glory to the college, but also made his parents proud. Lali learnt shooting skill from his father Jagdish Singh, a resident of Chuharwali village near here.

His father said, “I acquired this skill from my father, who was hunter. Since hunting got banned, I continued shooting as a sport. Harmehar is the third generation in our family to take up shooting. He was just 12 years old when he started shooting with an air rifle.”

“Now, Lali now uses .12 bore shotgun,” he said. Lali’s mother Amanpreet Kaur said her son had been balancing sports and studies very well. “He practises all the year round, but starts focusing on studies when examination are around. I do not have to push him for anything. He is completely self-motivated. In sports, he has already brought nine gold, five silver and three bronze medals,” she said.

Lali has been taking training coach from PP Singh. Earlier, he used to train at a shooting centre of former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh in Patiala. There is no other skeet shooting training centre in Punjab. Seeing his son’s achievements, Lali’s father set up a personal range for him.

Earlier, representing his team at the International Sports Shooting Federation Junior World Cup in New Delhi, Lali had achieved the fourth place. College principal Dr Neerja Dhingra congratulated Harmehar Singh Lali on his achievements. She wished him success in skeet shooting, hoping he would keep making the nation proud at international level events. She also appreciated efforts of Sahil Mahey, faculty of Department of Physical Education, for guiding and mentoring Lali which helped in achieve success.