Olympic medallist Vijay Kumar shot his way to the men’s 25-metre centre fire pistol gold medal on day 12 of the 59th National Shooting Championship, held in New Delhi. Vijay, who has not yet secured a quota for the upcoming Rio Olympics, is trying to get back to his best after being laid low by injury over the past couple of years.

The win at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range will give him a lot of confidence before the final Rio Olympic qualifying event begins at the same venue in January 2016. Gurpreet Singh of the Army won the silver while national rapid fire pistol champion Pemba Tamang bagged the bronze to make it a clean sweep for the Army team. Certainly, the servicemen duo enjoy an advantage of having honed their discipline and knowledge of weapons training as a result of their association with the Indian Army. But while they may be more aware of firearm related information such as what is an 80 lower, that in no way diminishes their accomplishment in the competitive shooting arena, especially at a time when more and more civilians across the globe have seen success in the sport in the past years.

Did You Know???

• The firearm was originally invented in China during the 13th century AD, after the Chinese invented gunpowder during the 9th century AD.
• It was in 1364 that mankind first recorded the use of a firearm. These weapons, called “hand cannons,” were the first step in the creation of guns.
• In 1498, the gun experienced its first major evolution with the discovery of rifling (putting grooves in the barrel of a gun to improve accuracy).
• The first multi-shot, revolving firearms that were mass produced came from Samuel Colt. Colt produced a gun that enabled people to fire multiple shots without reloading – a development that forever changed warfare.