New Delhi [India], September 10 (ANI): When trap shooter Ahvar Rizvi was informed in Kazakhstan that he had earned a berth in India's 2026 Asian Games squad, years of silent heartbreak dissolved into tears.

Eight years earlier, Rizvi had suffered the agony of missing the 2018 Asian Games squad by a solitary point. Shortly after, the discipline in which he was crowned Junior World Champion-Double Trap-was abruptly scrapped from the international shooting calendar, according to a press release from NRAI.

'As soon as I finished my round in Kazakhstan, my coach Vikram Singh Chopra came up and told me that I had been selected for the Asian Games. I was in complete disbelief; my body went numb, and I broke down in tears and hugged him. In 2018, I had missed the Asian Games by just one point. The Games come once in four years, and representing India on this stage has been a lifelong dream. The first thing I did was call my parents and elder brother,' Rizvi recalled.

Rizvi's journey to the continental stage began in 2012 in Meerut, surrounded by a family deeply rooted in shotgun shooting. With his father, brother, uncles, and cousins all active in the sport, a 12-year-old Ahvar was eager to pick up a shotgun, even when his father felt he was too young to handle the heavy recoil. Backed by his elder uncle, he qualified through the state trials, while his family banded together to facilitate his training.

'When I was young, the gun was too heavy, and the recoil was violent. My cousin Arsh Ahmed would physically stand behind my back during training rounds to absorb the recoil jerk. Another cousin, Rayyan Rizvi, gave me his gun for years and managed all my visa paperwork so I could travel and compete internationally. Family support is everything; without their unconditional backing, reaching this stage would have been impossible,' Rizvi said.

His breakthrough came swiftly, winning a silver medal at the 2017 ISSF Junior World Championship in Moscow, followed by an individual gold in Changwon in 2018 with a score of 141-surpassing the senior world champion's mark. But when Double Trap was discontinued, his career was thrown into turmoil as he spent three years adapting to Olympic Trap.

'After winning the World Championship gold, Double Trap ended. I struggled for nearly three years trying to switch to Single Trap. My scores dropped, and there were days I cried and thought about giving up shooting entirely. My coach, Vikram Singh Chopra, who has guided me since 2014, sat me down and reset my mindset. He told me, 'Double Trap is gone. If you could win medals and raise the Indian flag there, you could do it in Trap too.' That conversation gave me the strength to push forward,' he added.

The transition brought steep equipment challenges, as Rizvi lacked a proper Trap gun. In a remarkable gesture of sportsmanship, 2018 Asian Games silver medalist Lakshya Sheoran stepped forward to lend him his own competition equipment. 

'Equipment is paramount in shooting. When my scores were low initially, it was because I didn't have a proper trap gun. Lakshya gave me his own gun to train and shoot the trials with. Shooters rarely part with their competition weapons, and it is with his gun that I made the Asian Games squad,' Rizvi shared.

Rizvi also credited the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) for stabilising his career through structured national camps, technical support, and foreign exposure trips to the UK and Italy. In Hangzhou, Rizvi will line up alongside Olympian Kynan Chenai and childhood friend Shapath Bharadwaj in the Men's Trap squad.

'The consistent support, transparent trials, and exposure camps provided by NRAI have been vital in helping me adapt technically and stay match-ready at the highest level,' Rizvi said.

'The team atmosphere is incredible. Kynan treats us like younger brothers and brings invaluable senior experience, while Shapath and I have been roommates since our junior Double Trap days. On the range, handling pressure comes down to controlled breathing and taking it one target at a time. When I step onto the range in Indian colours, there will only be one vision in front of my eyes - seeing the Tricolour rise to the National Anthem,' he concluded. (ANI)