Abhinav Bindra All and everything

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Abhinav Bindra
Born	September 28, 1982 (1982-09-28) (age 25)[1]. Dehra Dun, India
Residence	Chandigarh, India
Occupation	Sportsman (Shooter)
Height	173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	65.5 kg (144 lb)

Medal record
Competitor for  India
Men's shooting
Olympic Games
Gold	2008 Beijing	Men's 10 m air rifle
ISSF World Shooting Championships
Gold	2006 Zagreb	Men's 10 m Air Rifle
Commonwealth Games
Silver	2002 Manchester	Men's 10m Air Rifle (Singles)
Gold	2002 Manchester	Men's 10m Air Rifle (Pairs)
Bronze	2006 Melbourne	Men's 10m Air Rifle (Singles)
Gold	2006 Melbourne	Men's 10m Air Rifle (Pairs)

Abhinav Bindra (Punjabi: ਅਿਭਨਵ ਿਬੰਦਰਾ, Hindi: अभिनव िबंद्रा, born September 28, 1982^[1]) is an Indian shooter from Zirakpur, in Mohali district, (near Chandigarh), Punjab and is the current World and Olympic champion in the 10 m Air Rifle event. By winning the gold in the 10 m Air Rifle event at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, he became the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games and the first gold medal since 1980 for India (Hockey).^[2][3]

Contents [hide] 1 Early years 2 Career 2.1 International performance 2.2 2008 Beijing Olympics 3 Awards and recognitions 4 Business career 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Early years

Abhinav Bindra comes from an affluent Punjabi ^[4] Khatri sikh family. His parents, Dr. Apjit and Babli Bindra, are promoters of the Hitech Group of companies which has a turnover of Rs. 300 crores (US $75 million) with interests in agro- and dogfood-processing, computer gaming, livestock genetics and pharmaceuticals.^[5][6]

He studied at the Doon School, Dehradun till the 8th standard (topping the difficult entrance exam) and then left for St. Stephens School, Chandigarh to pursue shooting. He earned his BBA from the University of Colorado.

He did his shooting training in Germany.^{[citation needed]} He practised for 12-14 hours a day at the shooting range that he owns at his farmhouse near Chandigarh.^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Career

Abhinav's potential talent was first spotted by his first coach Lt. Col. J.S. Dhillon^[7][8]. Abhinav Bindra was the youngest Indian participant at the 2000 Olympic Games.^[9] He scored 590 (98,99,98,97,100) placing him 11^th in the qualification round, and did not qualify for the finals since only the top 8 compete in the finals.^[10]

[edit] International performance

He won six medals at various international meets in 2001.

In the 10 m Air rifle event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, Manchester, he won Gold in the Pairs event and Silver in the individual event.

At the 2004 Olympic Games, he scored 597 in the qualification round and was placed third behind Qinan Zhu (599 - Olympic Record) and Li Jie (598). In the finals, Abhinav finished with 97.6 points, last in the field of eight and was the only player below 100 points. His sub-par finals dropped him from third to seventh.^[11]

At the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, he won the Gold in the Pairs event and the Bronze in the Singles event. Abhinav missed the 2006 Asian Games at Doha because of a back injuiry.

[edit] 2008 Beijing Olympics

Bindra booked his place in the 2008 Olympics by winning the gold medal at the 2006 ISSF World Shooting Championships with a score of 699.1^[12]

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Abhinav Bindra won the gold for the Men's 10m Air Rifle final after shooting a total of 700.5. He scored 596 (fourth) in the qualifying round and out-scored all other shooters in the finals with a round of 104.5. In the finals, he started with a shot of 10.7, and none of his shots were below 10.0.^[13] Bindra was tied with Henri Häkkinen heading into his final shot. Bindra scored his highest of the finals - 10.8 (A Bullseye) while Hakkinen came with 9.7 to settle for Bronze medal.^[14]

This was India's first individual gold medal at the Olympics, and the first gold in 28 years, since the Men's Hockey team won the gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.^[2] Bindra was rewarded by various Indian state governements and private organizations for his achievement. These include the state governments of Punjab - Rs 10 million (approx. $250,000),^[15] Harayana - Rs 2.5 million,^[15] Maharashtra - Rs 1 million,^[16] Karnataka - Rs 1 million,^[17] Tamil Nadu - Rs 0.5 million,^[18] Madhya Pradesh - Rs 0.5 million^[15] and Chattisgarh - Rs 0.5 million.^[19] Other organization that rewarded Bindra includes Chandigarh civic administration - Rs 0.5 million,^[15] BCCI - Rs 2.5 million,^[19] Indian Railways - lifelong free pass for Bindra & one companion in First AC^[19], Spicejet Airways - lifelong free flight ticket to Bindra^[19] and Samsung - Rs 2 million.^[5]

[edit] Awards and recognitions

• 2000 - Arjuna award.^[20]
• 2001 - Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (India's highest sports award).^[21]

[edit] Business career

Abhinav Bindra holds an M.B.A (Masters in Business Administration) from the University of Colorado, US.^[22] He is the CEO of Abhinav Futuristics.^[23]

Abhinav has sponsorship tie-ups with Samsung and Sahara Group.

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Abhinav Bindra wins India's first ever solo Olympic gold

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Posted online: Monday , August 11, 2008 at 02:54:16

Updated: Monday , August 11, 2008 at 02:54:16

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Beijing, August 11:
India clinched its first ever individual Olympic gold medal in 108
years when Abhinav Bindra won the 10 meter air rifle event in one of
the most pulsating shooting finals in the history of the world's
biggest sporting extravaganza.

The historic victory for the 25-year-old pro from
Chandigarh came against heavy odds as he entered the event ranked
number 17 in the world and pitted against Athens Olympic champion Zhu
Qinan of China and Henri Hakkinen of Finland rated much higher than
him.

But Bindra proved that reputation and history
counted little as he overcame a two-point deficit against Zhu and
Haikkinen after the qualifying round and annexed the title.

Bindra emerged triumphant in the 10-shot final
with a finish of 104.5, taking his tally of points to 700.5 as against
Zhu's silver winning performance of 699.7 (597+102.7) and 699.4
(598+101.4) by Hakkinen, which gave the Finn Army marksman the bronze.

His first shot of the final a 10.7 saw him move to
the third place and by the time he was preparing to shoot his fourth,
the Indian had risen to the second spot.

A 10.6 on his seventh attempt earned Bindra the
lead and in the deciding shot he got 10.8, way ahead of 10.5 by the
Chinese and 9.7 by the Finn to bring India the first ever gold medal by
an individual since the country first participated in Olympics in 1900.

The businessman from Chandigarh also ended India's
wait for a gold since the hockey team fetched a yellow metal in the
Moscow Olympics in 1980.

"It can't better than this. Can it?" an elated but composed Bindra said soon after achieving the feat.

"I sincerely hope my medal changes the face of India's Olympic sports," the bespectacled shooter told reporters.

As Bindra bowed his head to receive the gold medal
from the Princess of Lichtenstein, a small country in central Europe,
and the Indian national anthem was played out for the first time in
this edition of Olympics, the shooter had his feet firmly on the
ground, betraying little emotions.

"For me, life will go on as usual but I sincerely
hope Olympic sports get a leg-up. It's not a priority back home and I
hope more focus is paid to these events like shooting," he said.

Asked about his scorching run in the finals, Abhinav said it was a conscious plan to pull out all stops and it paid off.

"I entered the final as fourth, which means I had
to go all out for it. That's why I was so aggressive and it paid off in
the end. I guess it was my day," he said.

Bindra, whose career at one stage was jeopardised
by a nagging back injury, said it was not easy to keep himself keyed up
all along.

"I worked hard, left home and trained in Germany.
It only proves that if you keep working hard, you would have your day
someday and fortunately, it was my day today.

"My parents, family and coaches stood by me all along and I owe it to them," he said.

Even in his hour of supreme glory, Bindra was
magnanimous towards his rival when he applauded Zhu for his performance
and said "he should be happy that he won a medal".

Bindra's compatriot Gagan Narang too almost made
it to the final but was ruled out on countback. Gagan scored 595,
levelled at the fifth place but lost out on a final place in countback.

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