By IANS,
Chandigarh : Special prayers organised by the family of shooter Abhinav Bindra at a gurudwara here Sunday seemed to have been answered just hours later when he bagged the first individual gold medal for India in the 10 metre air rifle contest in the Beijing Olympics Monday.
Instant celebrations broke out at his father and industrialist A.S. Bindra’s farmhouse near Zirakpur in Punjab, about 15 km from here, as Abhinav recorded a feat that no other Indian sportsperson has ever done – winning an individual gold at the Olympics.
“I am very happy and proud today. Abhinav has done the country proud. It is a big thing for India. It is for the first time that a world and Olympic champion in this event is from India. He has emerged a silent killer,” an excited A.S. Bindra said here after his son stood on the victory podium to get the gold medal.
Abhinav’s parents had organised a special prayer meeting at the Sector 8 gurudwara here to seek blessings for the shooter and wish him good luck for the events. Hours later, the prayers were answered with his victory.
As the sprawling Bindra farmhouse near here was swarmed by media persons, his father A.S. Bindra and mother Babli Bindra were the busiest people – thanking people for the greetings and responding to media queries.
“We are very proud of our son. He has done a great thing for the country. We will be rushing to Delhi day after tomorrow to receive him when he returns Thursday. But before that, we will go to the Golden Temple in Amritsar to pay obeisance for his success,” Babli Bindra said.
The soft-spoken and shy Abhinav has been silently going about his campaign to win an Olympic medal over the last decade. The 24-year-old shooter, who is well-known in local circles, has been a Commonwealth Games gold medallist and a world champion in 10-metre air rifle shooting.
Son of a millionaire industrialist, Abhinav’s family has industrial interests in mushrooms and meat export from Punjab.
“My son worked very hard to achieve this feat. He paid a lot of attention towards physical training despite his back injury. He did tough commando training in Germany for three weeks prior to the Olympics,” A.S. Bindra said.