Anish Bhanwala is an Indian pistol shooter. He is from Karnal

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

and competes in the

25 meter rapid fire pistol 25 meter rapid fire pistol is one of the ISSF shooting events and is shot with .22 LR pistols. The event has been a part of the Olympic program ever since the beginning in 1896, although its rules changed greatly before World War II, after which ...

25 meter pistol 25 meter pistol, formerly and unofficially still often known as sport pistol, is one of the ISSF shooting events. It was devised as a women's event in the 1960s, based upon the rules of 25 meter center-fire pistol but shot with a .22-caliber spor ...

, and

25 meter standard pistol 25 meter standard pistol is one of the ISSF shooting events, introduced at the ISSF World Shooting Championships in 1970. It has its roots in the conventional pistol competitions developed by the National Rifle Association of America. The stand ...

events. Anish joined the Indian Shooting Team in 2017. He represented India at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, ...

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 A ...

, ISSF Junior World Championship 2017 (Suhl), Commonwealth Shooting Championships 2017 (Brisbane), World Shooting Championships 2018 and numerous ISSF Senior and Junior World Cups and South Asian Games, Kathmandu.

Early life

Bhanwala was born in village Kashandi, Sonipat and brought up in Karnal,

. He attended high school at

St. Theresa's Convent Sr. Sec. School St. Theresa's Convent Sr. Sec. School (informally termed, STCS) is a Catholic private school, teaching students in Kindergarten through twelfth grade from Karnal in Haryana, India. STCS is one of the couple of high schools in Karnal with excell ...

. His passion for shooting came while participating in

modern pentathlon The modern pentathlon is an Summer Olympics, Olympic sport consisting of fencing (sport), fencing (one-touch épée), freestyle swimming, show jumping, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running. The event is inspired by t ...

events. He participated in Modern Pentathlon World championship in Cyprus when he was just 11 years old. His next Modern Pentathlon competition was UIPM Asian Oceanic (Olympic Qualification Competition) Championship in Beijing, China. He had the full support of his parents from the just beginning of his sports life. His father borrowed a pistol for him to shoot at a range. Anish's elder sister Muskan Bhanwala is also an International Medalist. She won an individual Gold and a team Gold medal in ISSF Junior World Cup, Sydney, 2018. She has represented India at various Senior World Cups, Junior World Cups and Junior World Championships winning Bronze in ISSF JR World Championship, Suhl, Germany. She has won numerous medals in National Shooting Championships.

Career

He represented the country at U-12 modern pentathlon World Championships in 2013 and Asian Modern Pentathlon Championships in 2015. Shooting was his favourite among the pentathlon's five sports. Anish along with his family moved to New Delhi in 2017 to have the best training facilities available at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range. In ISSF Junior World Championship 2017, Suhl, Anish won two gold, two silver, and one bronze. In 25m Standard Pistol event Anish created a New World Record by shooting 579/600 score. In

2017 Commonwealth Shooting Championships The 2017 Commonwealth Shooting Federation Championships were held at the Belmont Shooting Complex in Brisbane, Australia from 28 October to 8 November 2017. It was held in tandem with that year's Oceania Shooting Championships and served as a t ...

, Brisbane, Australia, he won silver in 25m Rapid Fire Men. This was Anish's first senior international competition as a member of Indian squad. In the

Commonwealth Games 2018 The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

at age 15 Anish won a gold medal for India and became the youngest Indian to win a gold medal in Commonwealth Games. He set a new Commonwealth Games final record of 30 hits in the finals. In ISSF Junior World Cup 2018, Sydney he won one individual gold and one team silver in 25m Rapid Fire Junior Men. This was the first time in history that two siblings won individual Gold in any ISSF series. This was the competition where Anish's sister Muskan too won Gold medals. In ISSF Junior World Cup 2019, Germany, he again won gold in the men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol. Anish made his First ISSF Senior's achievement in 2019 in ISSF World Cup, New Delhi when he shot India's new National Record score of 588/600 in the qualification round and secured the 5th rank in the Finals. In the 65th National Shooting Championship, Bhopal he broke his own previous National record to set a new National record score of 590/600. In the ISSF World Cup, Cairo 2023 Anish won an Individual bronze medal. Anish won two bronze medals in the Asian Shooting Championship, Changwon 2023 and along with the medals he secured the much awaited Olympic Quota in the Rapid Fire Pistol event for India. India won this Olympic quota in Rapid Fire Pistol event after a period of long 11 years.

Coach

Anish Bhanwala's personal Coach is DSP Harpreet Singh, 2010 Commonwealth Games Individual and Team Gold Medalist. Anish was inspired by DSP Harpreet Singh when the police officer won 02 gold medals and a silver Medal in 2010 Commonwealth games and 2014 Commonwealth Games, Glasgow respectively. Harpreet has been Anish's mentor since 2015 when they first met in a National Championship and since then he has been the force behind his performance.

Recognition

National Child Award in Sports category. Mahindra Scorpio TOISA 2018 award for Emerging Player of The Year. Yono SBI 20 Under 20 Sports Achiever award. TOISA 2020 award for Emerging Player of The Year.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bhanwala, Anish 2002 births Living people Indian male sport shooters ISSF pistol shooters Sport shooters from Haryana People from Karnal Commonwealth Games medallists in shooting Commonwealth Games gold medallists for India Shooters at the 2018 Asian Games Shooters at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in shooting Asian Games bronze medalists for India Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games Shooters at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games