Vijay Kumar (sport shooter)

Subedar Major and Honorary CaptainVijay Kumar Sharma Padma Shri, AVSM, SM (born 19 August 1985) is an Indian sport shooter. He won the silver medal in the individual 25 metre rapid fire pistol event at the 2012 Summer Olympics.[1] Kumar hails from Barsar village of Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh and is a retired Subedar Major (Warrant Officer Class I) in the Dogra Regiment (16th Battalion) Indian Army.[2] Vijay Kumar is supported by the Olympic Gold Quest initiative. He has been posted at Indian Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) Mhow since 2003 where he is being coached by the Russian Pavel Smirnov.

Subedar Major and Honorary Captain
Vijay Kumar Sharma
Padma Shri, AVSM, SM
The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee presenting the Padma Shri Award to Vijay Kumar, in 2013.
Personal information
NationalityIndian
Born (1985-08-19) 19 August 1985
Harsour, Hamirpur
Himachal Pradesh, India
Military career
Allegiance India
Service/branch Indian Army
Years of service2001-2017
Rank Subedar Major
Honorary Captain
AwardsPadma Shri
Ati Vishisht Seva Medal
Sena Medal
Sport
CountryIndia
SportShooting

Early life and background

Born in Himachal Pradesh, Kumar is the son of Banku Ram, a retired Indian Army subedar, and his wife Roshni Devi. According to his father, while Kumar was "always intrigued" by his father's guns, he only developed his interest in shooting after enlisting in the Indian Army.[3] Kumar joined the Indian Army in 2001 as a sepoy (private), and was inducted into the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) at Mhow in 2003. His prowess ensured him a direct promotion from sepoy to havildar (sergeant) by 2006.[4] He was promoted to naib subedar on 20 April 2006.[5]

Shooting career

Early career (2006-2009)

At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, he won two gold medals: the individual 25 meter rapid fire pistol competition and the pairs competition in the same event together with Pemba Tamang. The same year, he won a bronze medal in the Asian Games.[6] In 2006, he was awarded the Arjuna award by the Indian government.[7]

In 2007, he finished second at the Asian Championship in 25 metre center-fire pistol. He also won a silver medal at the 2009 ISSF World Cup Beijing in rapid fire pistol, where he was defeated by 0.1 points. He was promoted to subedar on 10 February 2009 (seniority from 1 July 2008)[8]

Commonwealth and Olympic glory (2010-14)

In the 2010 Commonwealth Games, he won three gold medals and one silver. In 25 metre rapid fire pistol pairs, Gurpreet Singh and Vijay Kumar won the gold medal scoring 1162 points, setting a new Commonwealth games record. He won the 25 meter rapid fire pistol singles event and also teamed up with Harpreet Singh to win the 25-metre center fire pistol pairs event. In the 25-metre centre fire pistol singles, he finished second winning a silver, losing out to fellow Indian Harpreet Singh.

Kumar won the Silver Medal in the 25 m rapid fire pistol event at 2012 London Olympics.[9] He finished with an average score of 9.767 and had a score of 293 with 7 inner 10s in the first stage. Vijay's silver was the second medal for India at London 2012.[10] Earlier Kumar failed to qualify for the men's 10 m air pistol finals after finishing 31st on 28 July 2012.[11]

Kumar was chosen to be the Indian flagbearer at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.[7] The Indian trio of Vijay Kumar, Pemba Tamang and Gurpreet Singh won the silver medal in the 25m center fire event at the 2014 Asian Games, held at Incheon, South Korea. The team scored a total of 1740, two behind gold medalists China.[12]

Later career

Kumar retired from the army in 2017, after 15 years of service. As of 2019, he is finishing a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Manav Rachna University in Faridabad, and has been offered a direct-entry position as deputy superintendent of police (DSP) by the Himachal Pradesh state government.[13]

Performance timelines

25 metre rapid fire pistol

2002 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Olympic Games Not held Not held Silver Not held
World Championships Not held 34th
569
Not held 11th
578
Not held 36th
569
Not held
Asian Games/AC 4th
577+198.3
14th
566
Not held 7th
577
Not held
Commonwealth Games Not held Gold
581+197.2
Not held Gold
583+204.5
Not held 8th
274
Not held
World Cup 1 19th
575
35th
561
10th
577
World Cup 2 12th
576
34th
567
8th
580
Silver
581+199.4
World Cup 3 37th
568
14th
572
15th
577
16th
576
World Cup 4 38th
560
25th
573
40th
567
33rd
562
21st
572
World Cup Final NQ NQ NQ yes Qualified

25 metre center-fire pistol

2006 2007
World Championships 27th
577
Not held
Asian Games/AC 9th
580
Silver
582
Commonwealth Games Not held

25-metre standard pistol

2007
World Championships Not held
Asian Games/AC 12th
562
Commonwealth Games Not held Olympics 12 Not held

10 metre air pistol

2005
Olympic Games Not held
World Championships 2nd
Asian Games/AC
Commonwealth Games Not held
World Cup 1
World Cup 2
World Cup 3 89th
560
World Cup 4 73rd
564
World Cup Final NQ

Awards and recognition

For winning the silver medal at 2012 London Olympics:

Medal bar

Padma Shri
Ati Vishist Seva Medal
Sena Medal
Meritorious Service Medal
50th Anniversary of Independence Medal
9 Years Long Service Medal

[20]

References

  1. Vijay Kumar bags silver in London Olympics 2012
  2. NDTV Sports (3 August 2012). "Profile: Vijay Kumar". NDTV. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  3. Bisht, Gaurav (4 August 2012). "Subedar from Himachal village conquers London". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  4. Bisht, Gaurav (4 August 2012). "The rise & rise of Subedar Vijay Kumar". Times of India. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  5. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 23 September 2006. p. 1344.
  6. "Vijay kumar wins bronze in Asian games". Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  7. "Glasgow 2014 - Vijay Kumar Profile". g2014results.thecgf.com. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  8. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 11 July 2009. p. 1198.
  9. "Vijay Kumar shoots silver medal in 25m Rapid Fire Pistol at London 2012 Olympics". Olympics Medal Tally. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  10. "Olympics Shooting: Vijay Kumar wins Silver in 25m rapid fire pistol, becomes the fourth Indian shooter to win a medal in Olympics".
  11. "Vijay Kumar fails to qualify for 10m Air Pistol finals". The Times of India. London. Press Trust of India. 29 July 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  12. "Asian Games: Indian men win 25m centre fire pistol silver". rediff news. 26 September 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  13. Srinivasan, Kamesh (10 January 2019). "Olympic silver medallist Vijay turns cop". Sportstar - The Hindu. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  14. "Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and Arjuna Awards Announced". Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports. 19 August 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  15. "359 Republic Day Gallantry and other Defence Decorations Announced".
  16. "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  17. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 8 June 2013. p. 871.
  18. "Vijay Kumar wins Olympic silver: Re 1 cash reward announced". The Economic Times. 3 August 2012.
  19. "Rajasthan announces cash awards for Olympic winners Vijay Kumar, Sushil Kumar, Mary Kom, Saina Nehwal and others". The Times Of India. 13 August 2012.
  20. "Vijay Kumar : Services Best Sportsman". Hillpost. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
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