Class topper, wooden weapon, Nano rides: How Shapath Bharadwaj found his way to the Asian Games

NEW DELHI: Had Shapath Bharadwaj not been a shooter, he might have been seen solving deadlines just like his journalist father S Raju. In a house where there were always books and newspapers, Raju’s son was expected to follow the same path.Shapath also did well in his studies. He was top of the class from childhood and was popular among his teachers. Somewhere in his mind, he had already chosen another path – shooting.Shapath fell in love with shooting at an early age – nine – after watching his elder brother practice. His father initially thought that his younger son, who was doing so well academically, simply wanted to try the sport out of curiosity. Little did he know that the sound of gunshots would attract his son at such a young age.A few years later, this passion took Shapath to the Asian Games, where he would represent India in trap shooting.BeginningShapath was nine when he first saw his elder brother Shrey Bharadwaj practicing at the shooting range. He had seen guns at home and heard conversations about competitions, but this was different. For the first time he heard the shots, saw the clay targets hit and watched them shatter into pieces.He was stuck.The nine-year-old went home and said to his father, “Dad, I want to be a shooter too. I want my own gun too.”Instead of scoffing at his son’s request or ignoring it as a child’s passing interest, Raju decided to help shape his dream.“Dummy” shotgunShapath kept asking for his own weapon. His father eventually approached a carpenter, showed him a real shotgun, and asked him to make a dummy that looked exactly like it.

Shapath with his mom and dad.

“I still remember it. The first thing the carpenter said was, ‘The police are going to take me to jail. How can I do that?'” Shapath recalls with a smile.“I was so happy when my father gave me that wooden dummy. It was my first gun and I still have it at home today. My brother helped me use it at home for dry training. It was a special day in my life,” he says.The journey beginsStudies and shooting soon began to go hand in hand for Shapath.A schoolboy in uniform, sitting in the back of his Nano while his father drove from Meerut to the shooting range, his mother helping him with his studies during the trip, became a common sight.The journey from Meerut to the Karni Range in Tughlakabad could take three and a half to four hours one way, depending on traffic and road conditions. The family made the trip four times a week.

Whisper Bharadwaj

“There were big cars at the shooting range. My dad used to drive me on a Nano. People came in big cars, but that never bothered me or affected me. I was happy to shoot. I was taught from childhood that you can’t judge a person by the car they come in,” he says.Those long trips also taught him lessons that went beyond shooting.“That routine taught me discipline. You have to sleep on time, get up on time and finish work on time. I did schoolwork even while traveling. I studied in the car,” he says.The Asian Games are callingHis path to the Asian Games team was built on a series of strong performances on the international stage.At the 13th International Grand Prix in Porpetto, Italy in 2016, Shapath won gold medals in the individual and team double trap events. He followed that up with silver in the team competition at the 8th International Shotgun Cup in Orimattil, Finland.

Whisper Bharadwaj

In 2017, he continued his medal run. He won bronze in the individual event at the ISSF World Championships in Porpetto before helping India win gold in the team event at the 9th International Shotgun Cup in Orimattila. Later that year, he won another gold in the team event at the ISSF World Championships in Moscow, Russia.In 2019, he won bronze in the individual trap at the Italy Open Green Cup in Todi, Italy.In 2022, he won gold in the team competition at the ISSF World Championships in Osijek, Croatia, and bronze in the team competition at the ISSF World Cup in Lima, Peru. In 2023, he won silver in the junior individual trap at the 15th Asian Shooting Championship in Changwon.The call-up to the Asian Games came when he was competing at the ISSF World Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan.“At that time, I was playing in the World Championship in Almaty. The coach came to me and told me about my selection. That’s when I found out that I had made the Asian Games team,” he recalls.

Shapath with his coach

‘It’s an opportunity’Excitement or pressure? Shapath prefers another word – opportunity.“For me, it’s more of an opportunity. To represent my country, to give everything for my country and my flag and work hard. Whenever we go to an international competition, the first thought in my mind is that we are carrying the Indian flag. Representing India is a matter of pride, but there is also a sense of responsibility,” he says.

Whisper Bharadwaj

“The goal is the same. I just have to follow my process, follow my fundamentals and execute them. One goal at a time, until the end,” he says.For a boy who once traveled hours from Meerut in a Nano, learning in the backseat of a car and practicing on dry land with a wooden dummy, the Asian Games is the next step in a journey that began at the age of nine.And according to Shapath, that journey has only just begun.