Basking in the glory of country's highest sports award, Rajiv Gandhi KhelRatna, ace trap shooter Manavjit Singh Sandhu said the country can expect morefrom the shooters, especially in the Beijing Olympics.
Manavjit, who won the ISSF World Championship, apart from a bronze medal inCommonwealth Games in 2006, was elated with the honour and said, "The factthat sportspersons like (Rahul) Dravid, Jeev (Milkha Singh) were there, myselection for the award is really a fantastic news for me. I felt honoured andhumbled. I thank all the selection committee members."
Manavjit said he did expect the honour coming his way.
"The year 2006 brought me many laurels. I also became world number one.I felt honoured that my achievements got noticed. It is a reward for hardwork," he said.
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He also thanked his Italian coach Marcello Dradi, under whom he has beentraining since 1997.
On behalf of the shooting fraternity, Manavjit also promised laurels for thecountry from the Beijing Olympics.
"In my opinion, shooting is the number one sport in our country.Shooters are doing well and the country can bank on us," he said.
Manavjit also advocated taking facilities to the grassroot level for thepromotion of the game.
"There is a lot of help coming from the government but we need betterawareness, specially at the school level. Primarily we lack infrastructureoutside the metros.
"In major cities there are facilities but outside, there is hardly anyaccess to equipment. India lack facilities at the grassroot level. We must givethem facilities to get more quality shooters," he said.
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Manavjit sought more government help and said the Sports Ministry shouldprovide more funds.
"To groom youngsters, more funds are needed. The Ministry should come upwith more funds as this (trap shooting) is very expensive," said Manavjit.
When asked about his reaction on development of shooting infrastructure inthe country, Manavjit said things were improving gradually.
"We had limited infrastructure but now shooting ranges have come up inHyderabad, while new ranges are being built in Chennai, Jaipur and Chandigarh."
Probed about his most cherished achievement, Manavjit said, "The ZagrebWorld Championship, undoubtedly. That is one of the top events in the world.Shooters practice a lot for this event as it is held every four years.
"The championship had top class shooters including the Olympic goldmedallist. It was a very strong field, so winning there was moresatisfying."
The shooter said his immediate goals was to put up good performance at theWorld Championship in Cyprus.
"I will be participating in the World Championship in Cyprus fromSeptember 1. I will undergo training in Italy and I'm pretty focused for theevent."
PTI
