Abhishek Verma

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This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content.


Contents

Career

2015

Silver in World Cup Final

The Times of India, Oct 26 2015

Ritu Sejwal

Historic silver for Verma in archery World Cup Final

Abhishek Verma created history in Oct 2015 when he became the first compound archer from the country to win a medal at the archery World Cup Final being held in Mexico City. Abhishek, who reached the final, however, had to settle for a silver after losing to Turkey's DemirElmaagcli 143-145 in the summit clash.

The Asian Games individual silver medalist won his quarterfinal match against Denmark's Martin Damsbo 148-146. He was up against home favourite Mario Cardoso in the semifinal and the Delhi-based archer scored a perfect 150 to advance to the final. His rival scored 142.

2015-2018

Tushar Dutt, ‘Hobby shooter’ Abhishek wins medal on international debut, August 22, 2018: The Times of India

' ‘Shooting is my passion but law is my profession’

When Abhishek Verma, 29, made it to the Indian pistol team earlier this year, he became one of the oldest shooters to enter the national squad. On Tuesday, almost after eight months later, he proved that he more than just a late bloomer.

Abhishek took up the sport in 2015 and in his firstever international competition, the Asian Games, he clinched a bronze in the 10m air pistol event.

“Many people used to tell me that I should have started early, this is not the age to make a debut. I have always treated shooting as my passion, as my hobby, and there is no age to pursue it,” he told TOI from Palembang.

A qualified lawyer, and son of a District & Sessions judge, Abhishek was just about to start practicing law, that shooting happened.

“Since childhood, he was attracted towards shooting. But since his father is in a transferable job, he could never pursue shooting when as a kid. It was possible only when we shifted to Hisar four years ago and found a shooting range,” his mother Kusum said.

But as Abhishek joined the range in Hisar, his father was again transferred to Fatehabad in Haryana. “He used to travel 80km to and fro (from Fatehabad to Hisar) by bus every day. But he was so passionate about the sport that he never complained,” the mother said.

Abhishek later joined ex-Army shooter Omendra Singh’s range in Gurgaon. Last year, Abhishek participated in his first National Shooting Championships and won silver. He later did well in three selection trials and made it to the team. The quick rise was a result of Abhishek’s hard work, but he insists shooting is still a hobby and he is not thinking of making it as career.

“I never took shooting as a career option. I have always been clear that I will keep shooting as my hobby, while law will be my profession. Even when I came to the Asian Games, I came as a hobby shooter and maybe, this is why I wasn’t under any pressure,” Abhishek said.

Abhishek had failed to qualify for the finals of the mixed air pistol event with Manu Bhaker earlier at the Games. “I didn’t take it too hard as it is part of the game. On the other hand, the mixed match gave me some idea about the final range, which I feel helped me in winning the medal today,” he said.

2018-Apr 2019

Tushar Dutt, April 28, 2019: The Times of India

Haryana ‘hobby’ shooter bags Tokyo Olympics quota berth

Abhishek Is Also A Lawyer, Computer Science BTech

Abhishek Verma never ceases to surprise. The Haryana man called himself a ‘hobby shooter’ after winning a bronze medal in the Asian Games last year — his international debut at the age of 29. He was at it again on Saturday. The lawyer-turnedshooter bagged a Tokyo Olympics quota berth by winning gold in the men’s 10m air pistol event at the ISSF World Cup in Beijing.

And he didn’t stop there to celebrate his win and let it all sink in. Instead, Abhishek preferred to train for an hour after the medal ceremony and the dope test. “I haven’t seen anyone do that. I was expecting him to party and celebrate,” former shooter and now a national coach, Samaresh Jung, told TOI from Beijing.

Unlike other athletes, he didn’t share his medal pictures on the social media too, as he is not there at all.

“I am not on social media platforms and I don’t use a mobile phone because I don’t want to. I want to focus on my shooting than anything else,” he told TOI after the match on Saturday. Surprising, but then Abhishek is different from most of his contemporaries in the world of shooting. A BTech in computer science who went on to get a degree in law, Abhishek took up the sport in 2015 — as a hobby — at the age of 25. He made it to the Indian team only in early 2018.


Wasn’t aiming for gold: Verma

Within three months, Verma had the Asiad medal in his bag. He made his World Cup debut two months ago in New Delhi, but a score of 576 wasn’t enough to take him beyond 24th position. Making a cut to the 8-man final was out of his reach.

It was disappointing for Abhishek, but he considered it as a reality check and worked harder to improve his shooting.

Abhishek’s feat on Saturday was commendable, considering it was his only second World Cup appearance. He won gold in a field that boasted of Beijing Olympic champion Pang Wei of China and multiple World Cup medallist and former world record holder in this event, Oleh Omelchuck of Ukraine.

The Indian qualified for the final by scoring 585, his personal best, and later scored 242.7 to clinch gold. He was 2.3 points ahead of Russia’s Artem Chernousov (240.4), while South Korea’s Han Seungwoo bagged bronze with a score of 220.

Although Abhishek had been aiming to win a quota for the Tokyo Games, he didn’t expect it to come so early. “I wasn’t aiming for the gold or the quota here, but I had been working really hard for long,” Abhishek said.

With Abhishek’s quota, Indian shooting has got five berths in the Tokyo Games. In his event, 10m air pistol, India has got the maximum of two berths – Saurabh Chaudhary had secured a quota place in the New Delhi World Cup in February.

“I learned a lot from the Delhi World Cup. I focused more on working on my mistakes,” the shooter added.

To put things in perspective, since the Delhi World Cup in February, Abhishek visited his family in Palwal, Haryana – which is only 80km from the Capital – only once.

“He came home directly from the airport after the Asian Airgun meet in Taiwan earlier this month. He stayed overnight and went back to the camp in Delhi,” his mother Kusum told TOI. “But we don't complain. He is working hard towards his goal of making it to the Olympics and we are happy that he is getting the results,” the proud mother said.

Son of a sitting District & Sessions judge, law was an obvious choice for Abhishek. But his passion for shooting seems to have come from his love for thriller movies and television series. “He was a huge fan of television series CID. He also watches all action movies,” his mother said.

2018-19

[ The Times of India]


Abhishek Verma: Veteran archer Abhishek Verma won seven World Cup medals in 2018. The 29-year-old also won a silver in the compound team event at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games. Verma had a successful partnership with compatriot Jyothi Surekha, as they won four World Cup bronze medals in compound mixed team event (in Shanghai, Antalya, Salt Lake City and Berlin). Individually, Verma won a singles silver at the Salt Lake City World Cup, before finishing off the 2018 season on a high with two World Cup Final medals in Samsun, Turkey. In the final, Verma won a bronze in singles before adding a silver in the mixed team event with Deepika Kumari. In the Archery World Cup in Antalya, Turkey held in May 2019, Abhishek Verma teamed up with Rajat Chauhan and Aman Saini in the Indian men’s compound team to defeat Russia 235-230 in the bronze medal playoff.

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