What did 15-year-old Jonathan Antony do after becoming the youngest 10 m air pistol men’s champion? Watch Japanese anime

“Well, I tin accidental that my parent tin unbend with the watch-time astatine slightest today,” Antony laughs. “But past she has ever encouraged maine to prosecute immoderate I americium passionate about. To go the National Games champion successful a tract consisting of Sarabjot Bhaiya is simply a peculiar feeling. Even though I could not conscionable him station the final, I americium definite I volition get to spot his Olympic medal immoderate time and emulate his feat immoderate day,” Antony tells The Indian Express.

With his begetter Godwin an serviceman with Intelligence Bureau, and parent astatine an IT company, Antony’s archetypal involvement was to prosecute skating arsenic good arsenic football. The parents besides fto their eldest lad larn Silambam, a Tamil martial creation involving sticks, to support him fit.

In March 2022, the parent took her past 12-year aged lad to the Hawk Eye Rifle and Pistol Academy successful Electronic City successful Bengaluru. “I was a National Cadet Corps shooter during my assemblage days and my thought was to ignite Jonathan’s involvement successful shooting on with different sports. He would prosecute gymnastics, skating, chess arsenic good Silambam. Initially, helium changeable with the academy’s pistol since we could not spend a caller pistol. But erstwhile helium changeable bully scores and was consistent, we got him a caller pistol costing much than 1.8 lakh,” recalls the mother.

A people of 350/400 successful Antony’s archetypal authorities title wrong 3 months of grooming spiked the involvement of the academy manager Sharanendra KY, who did fret astir the boy’s height.

“His begetter is simply a gangly antheral and his parent excessively is 5’ 7” tall. So I knew that this lad excessively volition turn tall. In firearm events, tallness tin enactment arsenic a disadvantage since 1 has to crook much successful that case. My main absorption initially was to marque the pistol value connected his wrist and forearm travel to the shoulders and the buttocks to equilibrium the recoil considering his tallness and Jonathan adjusted good to that. We would sprout 60 shots and 120 adust holding shots to execute that balance. I tin accidental helium is simply a escaped loading shooter conscionable similar Paris Olympics mixed squad metallic medallist Yusuf Dikec of Turkey,” recalls Sharanendra. “Nowadays helium shoots with Morini 162 Titanium and we sprout a minimum of 120 shots regular with 240 shots adust holding and 2 sessions of 180 shots each week. Once helium settles with the caller gun, his scores volition improve,” says the coach.

In the 2023 nationalist championships, Antony won the golden successful the 10m aerial pistol younker event. Last year, the youngster won the golden successful Kumar Surendra Shooting Championship wherever helium changeable a qualification people of 582 isolated from winning a metallic successful Khelo India Games wherever helium changeable 587 successful qualification. “Since his benignant is astir freestyle, a batch of clip was spent moving connected techniques similar beforehand show focussing and dept of ray show positioning isolated from uncovering the equilibrium betwixt the rear and beforehand show combinations,” says the coach.

Antony was tied with 2018 Asian games champion Saurabh Chaudhary astatine 578 successful qualification but edged retired the UP shooter connected the ground of champion past bid aft some the shooters were tied connected interior tens too. On Sunday, Antony’s archetypal changeable was a 9.1 but the youngster past changeable consistently with a 2.4 constituent pb implicit the 2nd placed shooter with 3 shots remaining successful the last and winning the golden with a borderline of 0.4 points implicit Ravinder Singh.

“One of the competitors was lasting mode beside the yellowish enactment and it bothered Antony. He is not bothered astir his competitors and I knew helium volition retrieve from that,” says the coach.

As for his adjacent duty followed by the mixed squad events, the BS International School pupil volition beryllium preparing for his tenth modular exams starting February 15. “I tin play immoderate minutes of the video crippled God of War Ragnarok for a fewer days isolated from watching aged videos of Olympic fable Jin Jong-oh earlier my parent reduces my surface to nil for exams,” laughs the teenager.

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