Asian Games 2018: Bollywood music lover Shardul Vihan, 15, clinches silver

Shooter Shardul Vihan celebrates after winning silver yesterday. Pic/PTI

Teenagers seem to be taking over Indian shooting and the latest addition to this young list is Shardul Vihan, 15, who clinched a silver medal in the men's double trap event at the Jakabaring Range in Palembang yesterday. A couple of days ago, another junior shooter, Lakshay Sheoran, 19, climbed the podium to receive his silver medal in the men's trap event. Then, Saurabh Chaudhary, 16, shot gold in the 10m air pistol event.

Incidentally, both Shardul and Lakshay share a room at the Athletes Village here and have similar interests. The secret to their confident show at these Games is common too - Hindi music. "Shardul loves his music. Whenever I go into their room in the mornings, they play loud Hindi music in the hall. Shardul particularly thrives on the loud beats. It's fun to see these kids enjoying themselves and bringing glory to the nation at the same time," national shotgun coach and former India trap shooter Mansher Singh told mid-day yesterday.

Mansher Singh

Music is not mere fun, but actually a serious pre-competition exercise for Shardul. "I let the youngsters have their fun because that is their way of building up confidence and at the same time, easing pre-competition nerves. Shardul has a set routine - he plays loud Hindi music in the hall and loud Punjabi music in the bathroom. Every time I have to knock on his bathroom door and tell him that it's time to come out because he enjoys his music so much that he doesn't realise how much time has passed," added Mansher, a four-time Olympic Games veteran.

Yesterday, Shardul shot an impressive score of 73 to clinch silver, while veteran Korean Shin Hyunwoo, 34, won gold with a score of 74, and Al Marri Hamad Akli took bronze, scoring 53.So, how will Shardul celebrate? "Probably with some more Hindi music and this time even louder," Mansher signed off with a laugh.

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