Mandi Gobindgarh rejoices at Arjun's feat

Surinder Bhardwaj

Fatehgarh Sahib, Sept 28

Residents of Mandi Gobindgarh, the hometown of Arjun Cheema, burst into celebrations as he won gold for the country in the 10m air pistol shooting event at the ongoing Asian Games in Hangzhou today. They thronged his residence and celebrated the achievement.

Arjun bagged the yellow metal for the country along with Sarabjot Singh and Shiva Narwal.

Sandeep Cheema, who runs a petrol station, said his son was earlier into powerlifting as his uncle Jagwinder Singh Cheema, presently posted as Commander, 3rd Commando, Mohali, had also been an Asian gold medallist in powerlifting, “but we motivated him to switch to shooting as he could not give his 100 percent to powerlifting”. He said the move proved right as Arjun started giving immediate results and bagged several medals at the national level.

Harpreet Singh Prince, president of Municipal Council, Mandi Gobindgarh, and Arjun’s uncle, said they called him back from Lawrence School, Sanawar, observing his keen interest in shooting and put him under the stewardship of a renowned coach of Patiala, Parvesh Joshi, to give him advanced training. He said presently, he was being trained by Sat Guru Dass, India coach. He informed that Arjun was pursuing his graduation from Lovely University, Jalandhar.

Jagmeet Sahota Bawa, a social worker, lauded him for being the first person from the district to win a gold medal at an international event. He said earlier, he had won gold medal in the ISSF Junior World Cup Shooting Championship in 50m free pistol competition held in Suhl, Germany, and another gold at the ISSF Junior World Championship in Lima, Peru.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann congratulated him on their social media pages. Deputy Commissioner Parneet Shergill also congratulated the family.

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