ISSF World Cup: Why Ankur Mittal must credit double trap silver to his father's migration to New Delhi

Call it a quirk of fate. Nearly 10 years ago, when Ashok Mittal was to shift residence from Sonepat in Haryana to New Delhi, two things dictated his decision: one, his booming business; the other reason was the lack of a shooting range in the entire district. So, moving to the capital where he could train whenever he pleased at the Karni Singh Shooting Range was an easy decision. After all, all Sonepat could offer in terms of sporting facilities were the countless wrestling akhadas and mud pits for playing kabaddi. [caption id=“attachment_3306414” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] India’s Ankur Mittal during his double trap event on Monday at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi where he won silver.[/caption] While Ashok’s own career never hit the highs that it once promised to, his choice to move out of Sonepat played a role in India winning the silver medal at the ongoing ISSF World Cup on Monday. Ashok’s son, Ankur, shot 74 in the double trap event to clinch India’s second medal at the competition, after Pooja Ghatkar won a bronze in 10m air rifle event on the first day of the competition. Earlier in the day, Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu had also clinched gold in the mixed team 10m air pistol event. However, since the category is just a test event, the medals will not be taken in account for the overall standings. The medal which did count in the standings – that of Ankur – came after two days of dejection for the Indian contingent. He could have very well won gold, his score of 74 was just behind that of the eventual winner, James Willet of Australia, who shot 75. Rather than being dejected at the wafer-thin margin of defeat, the 24-year-old was a picture of happiness after the event. “I’m just happy to have won my first World Cup medal. I’m slightly disappointed. But I can’t really blame anyone, since I was the one shooting,” Ankur told Firstpost right after the event. Having taken up the sport as a 17-year-old, he has never since looked back, winning gold at the Asian Shotgun Championship in 2014 and bronze two years later at the same event. However, an inevitable rethink is on the cards for Ankur.  Just days ago, the International Shooting Sports Federation’s (ISSF) executive committee and administrative council approved the proposal to drop men’s double trap from the Olympics along with the 50m rifle prone and 50m pistol events. The youngster, however, put up a brave face. “It’s sad that double trap could be dropped. One solace is that the event will be there for next year’s Commonwealth and Asian Games,” he said. A love for the sport runs in the family with Ankur’s elder brother Ajay also having inherited their father’s passion for shooting. In fact, Ajay has two junior Asian gold medals to his name. “My father still competes in the Nationals, where all three of us participate. It is a family affair,” Ankur said. It was symbolically befitting, that the gun Ankur used to shoot silver on Monday once belonged to his father Ashok. His own gun was slightly heavy for him and so Ashok gifted Ankur his own piece. After all, it is Ankur who now carries the baton for what were once Ashok’s ambitions as a shooter.