Rishipal Singh Dhanoa hopes to win his first individual gold medal in shooting in Sukma this year.
KUALA LUMPUR: No Sikh shooter has ever represented Malaysia in international competitions.
And Rishipal Singh Dhanoa from Petaling Jaya wants to be the first.
The lanky 18-year-old, who took up shooting three years ago, featured for Selangor in the Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Kuantan two years ago.
Rishipal, who is 182cm tall, won two silvers in team events in the 10m air pistol and 25m sport pistol in Sukma.
He took up shooting because of his father, Charanjit Singh, who was a policeman.
“I was inspired by my dad, who used to win medals in police shooting competitions. He has since retired. I want to do much better and achieve a lot more than he did in shooting meets,” said Rishipal.
“Shooting is also one of my hobbies, as I am fascinated with how the weapon works.
“I feel firing a pistol is easier than many other sports,” said Rishipal, who featured in the Selangor Shooting competition, which ended on Sunday.
He won the bronze medal in the 10m air pistol after accumulating a personal best of 562 points in the SportExcel-NSC-Milo-NSAM competition.
In the team event, Rishipal together with Noor Aizam Nuqman Azlan and Tan Tong Tat clinched the gold for Selangor with a total score of 1,659 points.
He also featured in the 25m standard pistol event and was tied third with Raja Ahmad Firdaus on 529 points, but on count back he finished fourth.
Rishipal, who is taking his O-levels at the Stars Learning Academy in Kelana Jaya, added that his mission this year is to win his first individual gold medal in Sukma.
“By winning the gold in Sukma, I will be called up for training with the national junior team,” said Rishipal, who will compete in four pistol events in Sukma – 10m air pistol, 25m sport, 25m standard and 25m rapid fire.
“My ambition since young was to represent Malaysia in international junior competitions, and to achieve that I must upstage national shooters by winning gold medals at local meets,”
“I also want to create history by becoming the first Sikh to represent Malaysia in shooting. I hope to be in the team for next year’s SEA Games in Singapore,” said Rishipal.
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