Anahad Singh Kohli, a 16-year-old young shooter in the United States of America (USA), with her roots in Chandigarh is winning medals and making a mark in youth shooting in foreign shores.
Lived in Chandigarh till three years ago, Kohli learned to grab attention while being trained under coach Archit Thakur at the Trinetra Shooting Academy. Kohli says that her training in Chandigarh helped her enhance shooting skills at the renowned Lafayette Gun Club, which is situated on 28 acres of lakefront property in Grafton, Virginia, and was established in 1948.
Kohli was born in the USA and lived in India until she moved there back in 2022. She won gold medal in the Salvo Open Shooting Championship, hogging limelight in rifle events. “Even though I have managed to win many medals in the US, the Salvo Open medal is closest to my heart. It has been a great experience scalping up my shooting skills in the US,” said Anahad, who took to the sport after falling in love with guns and pistols at her maternal grandfather’s shop in Shimla as a kid.
She was mesmerised to watch her mother use a pistol in shooting and got hooked onto it. Her first shooting stint happened in Sangrur when she was a small kid. She competes in standing 60 shot precision air rifle, PAR, or three-position air rifle, small bore .22 events, respectively.
{{/usCountry}}She was mesmerised to watch her mother use a pistol in shooting and got hooked onto it. Her first shooting stint happened in Sangrur when she was a small kid. She competes in standing 60 shot precision air rifle, PAR, or three-position air rifle, small bore .22 events, respectively.
{{/usCountry}}“The idea of using a pistol fascinated me. Those images are still fresh in my mind and that is the reason I consider my mother as my role-model,” added Anahad, who will be representing the USA in the future events but her heart still belongs to India.
“India has produced top-notch shooters and the level here is top-class. The competition is hard in various age-groups in India as there are a lot of entries, as a result, shooters make a good base but in the US there is open competition, so even an Olympian can compete in a tournament. I would have loved to represent India at the Olympics making it a dream come true but I will be playing for the US,” said Anahad who has played in the nationals and at the navy nationals in the US. Her highest rank in the navy nations was at fourth place. “I would like to improve it,” a Class 11 shooter added.
Torn between choices at a young age, Anahad wishes to either become a shooter in the USA army or navy or become a commercial pilot. “Shooting is my first love. Guns, pistols and rifles fascinate me. I am going to put my best to excel at the sport or else become a commercial pilot,” she concluded.