Thaindian News

Chandigarh, Aug 16 (IANS) India’s sole individual Olympic gold medal winner Abhinav Bindra Saturday suggested the country draw inspiration from the Chinese “obsession to win Olympic medals” as there was no dearth of talent here that could be trained to win. “I guess China is obsessed with winning Olympics gold medals and we should take inspiration from it. In India, there is no dearth of talent but a lot needs to be done to utilise it in a proper manner,” Bindra told reporters at his family farm near Zirakpur town near here.

The ace shooter from Chandigarh made the country proud by winning a gold in the 10-meter air rifle event at the Beijing Olympics but is now exhausted with all the attention that he is getting.

“The response here is tremendous and I am very happy on coming back home. But I want to remain away from all this hype as I am very exhausted and want to take a long break,” Bindra added.

Recalling the momentous moment and the long years put in for it, Bindra said: “I consider the finals of the 10 meter air rifle event as the most exciting final of my life.”

“For the last 12 years, I was following only one thing in life and had only one hobby, which is shooting. My concentration did get diverted in the beginning but gradually I calmed myself and reached my goal,” he said.

Bindra said he was very enthusiastic about the India’s prospects at Olympics.

“Our boxers are doing extremely well and I am praying for them to win medals. We should not pressurize them by creating any hype before the results and let them concentrate on their game plan.”

He admitted that Olympics sports are still not a priority in the country and there was a long way to go.

“India has to win at least 30-40 medals to become an Olympics power of the world. Cricket is a popular sport in India and rules the hearts of the masses. In fact, I myself love watching cricket.”

Bindra now plans to work for the betterment of shooting as a sport in the country.

“We are running a Abhinav sports trust with a sole aim of churning out future champions. Now we are planning to intensify its work. We will select budding youngsters from any sport and provide them world class infrastructure and training facilities,” said A.S. Bindra, Abhinav’s father.

Commenting on the tagline of “India’s most eligible bachelor”, given to him by his mother, Bindra said there were no plans of marriage in the near future and he does not even have a girlfriend.