Dwarka: Ishaan Jadhav, a new shooting star on the horizon

Dwarka: When young Ishaan started playing with toy guns, he knew little that it would become his passion and life goal. 18 years old Ishaan Jadhav, a resident of Peepal Apartments Sector 17 E, aspires to represent India at the Olympics in the shooting. He is a shooting (10 mt air pistol and 50 Mt air pistol) player and has been a part of national and state-level tournaments.

Ishaan has shown extraordinary performance in less than two years since he started in the sport of shooting. He won gold at state level champion in 2020 within a year of starting shooting. He also won gold in the All India G.V. Mahavlanker shooting championship 2021.

Ishaan says, “I always had an interest in shooting since childhood. I usually bought toy guns on my birthdays. I started shooting in 2019 as a hobby and the same year I got Gold at a state-level tournament. This gave me confidence and my uncle suggested I pursue it as a sport.”

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Son of Pooja Jadhav, a teacher and Vikas Jadhav, an engineer, Ishaan is a single child. He is disciplined and never misses practice. He initially took training from Sangeeta Devi, a national shooting champion and is now getting trained under international coach Sudhir Tomar and junior coach Piyush Panwar.

During the pandemic, his preparations got affected yet he never wavered from his goal. His target is to win gold at the national level. “I have to win gold at the national level. Although, I participated but yet to win gold. I am doing hard work and am determined to get it,” says Ishaan.

His inspiration for shooting is Karoly Takas, a legendary shooter from Hungary. “ Takas won Olympic gold shooting with the left hand because he lost his right hand in the war. He practised with the left hand and won the gold," says Ishaan.

Ishan is a disciplined child who pays attention to everything from academics and training. He takes every lesson seriously. Apart from shooting, Ishaan enjoys painting. With all this, he is preparing for competitions such as the NDA. “I aim to get into the National Defence Academy. I am working hard and hopefully would get success,” says he.