First it was Kapil Dev then Sachin Tendulkar and now Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Abhinav Bindra. Can you guess what is common in all of them? Yes, apart from being sportsmen, all of them have become honorary Lieutenant Colonels in the Territorial Army. Army Chief Gen. V.K. Singh pinned ranks on the shoulders India’s cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Olympian gold medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra at a ceremony recently. Dhoni has been commissioned into the elite Para Regiment, while Bindra was commissioned into the Sikh Regiment. The respective regiment chiefs Lt. Gen. Vinod Bhatia and Lt. Gen. Sumer Singh were also present on the occasion.
It was only on September 13 that President Pratibha Patil had approved the grant of honorary commissions to the two illustrious sportspersons in recognition of their achievements in their respective sports. The Indian cricket captain successfully led the country to victory in the World Cup this year and helped the team to reach the pinnacle in Test rankings for the first time in 2010. In 2007, Dhoni also led the team to victory in the inaugural T20 World championship.
Donning the Olive Green uniform, Bindra said that he would now build bridges with the army. Bindra was conferred the honour for winning the only individual Olympic gold medal for India at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Happy at donning the maroon beret, Dhoni said that his childhood dream had come true and he would make every effort to live up to it. He said that becoming a member of the elite Parachute Regiment involved rigorous combat and airborne operations training and he would soon find time to train for it. The cricketer who had earlier interacted with the army on several occasions said that he would motivate the youth to serve the country by joining the army.
Just like the cricket team which has members from all over the country, Dhoni too opted for the Para Regiment that had members from all the regiments of the Indian Army. Along with Dhoni and Bindra, the army also honoured a doctor by profession, Deepak Rao, a martial arts specialist, who has trained nearly 15,000 army troops in close quarter combat, with the rank of a Major. In 2008, Kapil Dev was conferred the honorary Lt. Col. rank in the Territorial Army and in 2010, Tendulkar was made honorary Group Captain in the Indian Air Force (IAF).
Shot at History:
Apart from receiving the honorary honour, Bindra has been in the news for his book and his dream of London Olympics. Releasing the book of the Olympic champion, ‘A shot at history’ written by Rohit Brijnath and published by Harper Collins, in Delhi, Union Sports Minister Ajay Maken said that he hoped that the photo of Abhinav Bindra would not be replaced from the corridors of the Sports Ministry for the next century. The minister said that the Olympic medalist had achieved the feat without much support from the government or anyone else. Maken said that the book should be an eye opener for people to excel in life.
Recalling his failure at the Athens Games in 2004, Bindra said that it had taught him that there was no guarantee in sport no matter how well you do everything right. He said that he learnt that one had to be perfect on an imperfect day. However, somebody had convinced him then that his time would come and it came four years later in 2008 at Beijing.
The Olympian said that the country too needed to make strides in the arena of sports. He said that in this respect China could be emulated as it won its first shooting gold in 1984, even though many would not agree to send their five-year-olds to far off training centres to become champions.
Speaking about the 2012 London Olympics, Bindra said that he was hopeful of clinching another medal. He stated that he would work very hard and give his best for a medal at the Olympics. The ace marksman had secured a place in the London Olympics after finishing a poor eighth in the 10m air rifle event of the Shooting World Cup in Munich in June this year.
Speaking on India’s prospects, the Khel Ratna and Arjuna awardee said that all shooters- Gagan Narang, Hariom Singh, Sanjeev Rajput, Ronjan Sodhi, Annuraj Singh, Rahi Sarnoba, Vijay Kumar - qualified for the Olympics were capable of winning medals and some of them had won laurels recently too.
Born on September 28, 1982 to Apjit and Babli Bindra at Dehradun, Uttarakhand, Abhinav Bindra, currently is the World and Olympic champion in the 10m Air Rifle event. The gurus to spot the talent in the young lad were Amit Bhattacharjee and Lt. Col. Dhillon. In the year 2000, he happened to be the youngest and scored 590 to be placed 11th in the qualification round. Currently training under five-time Olympic shooter Gabriele Bühlmann of Switzerland, Bindra hopes to win more honours.
It was a proudest moment for Bindra in 2010, when at the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony he got the honour of leading the Indian contingent. He also took the athletes’ oath on behalf of the 6,700 participants from 71 countries and territories.
Bindra did his schooling at Doon School, Dehradun, and his graduation in Bachelors in Business Management from University of Colorado, US. Currently, he is pursuing a Doctorate in Masters of Business Management and Diploma in Sports Mental Management from Munich. However, on September 8, 2008, he was conferred Honorary Doctorate in Literature from SRM University, Chennai.
Box
Honour Scroll
· 2008 - Beijing Olympic Gold Medalist 700.5
· 2010 - Gold and Silver Medalist at Intershoot Netherlands
· 2007 - Gold Medalist Air Rifle Australian Cup, Sydney
· 2006 - World Champion Air Rifle World Championship Zagreb
· 2006 - Common Wealth Games, Melbourne – Gold, Silver, Bronze medalist
· 2005 - Asian Shooting Championship Bangkok - Gold Medalist
· 2005 - National Champion
· 2004 - Broke the Olympic Record of 96 Atlanta Olympics at Athens Olympics
· 2004 - Common Wealth Games Record Holder
· 2004 - Athens Olympics (Finalist)
Awards:
• 2009 - Padma Bhushan
· 2009 - Rajiv Gandhi Award
· 2009 - Bharat Shiromani Award
· 2009 - India Youth Sports Icon
· 2001 - Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award
· 2000 - Arjuna Award
It was only on September 13 that President Pratibha Patil had approved the grant of honorary commissions to the two illustrious sportspersons in recognition of their achievements in their respective sports. The Indian cricket captain successfully led the country to victory in the World Cup this year and helped the team to reach the pinnacle in Test rankings for the first time in 2010. In 2007, Dhoni also led the team to victory in the inaugural T20 World championship.
Donning the Olive Green uniform, Bindra said that he would now build bridges with the army. Bindra was conferred the honour for winning the only individual Olympic gold medal for India at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Happy at donning the maroon beret, Dhoni said that his childhood dream had come true and he would make every effort to live up to it. He said that becoming a member of the elite Parachute Regiment involved rigorous combat and airborne operations training and he would soon find time to train for it. The cricketer who had earlier interacted with the army on several occasions said that he would motivate the youth to serve the country by joining the army.
Just like the cricket team which has members from all over the country, Dhoni too opted for the Para Regiment that had members from all the regiments of the Indian Army. Along with Dhoni and Bindra, the army also honoured a doctor by profession, Deepak Rao, a martial arts specialist, who has trained nearly 15,000 army troops in close quarter combat, with the rank of a Major. In 2008, Kapil Dev was conferred the honorary Lt. Col. rank in the Territorial Army and in 2010, Tendulkar was made honorary Group Captain in the Indian Air Force (IAF).
Shot at History:
Apart from receiving the honorary honour, Bindra has been in the news for his book and his dream of London Olympics. Releasing the book of the Olympic champion, ‘A shot at history’ written by Rohit Brijnath and published by Harper Collins, in Delhi, Union Sports Minister Ajay Maken said that he hoped that the photo of Abhinav Bindra would not be replaced from the corridors of the Sports Ministry for the next century. The minister said that the Olympic medalist had achieved the feat without much support from the government or anyone else. Maken said that the book should be an eye opener for people to excel in life.
Recalling his failure at the Athens Games in 2004, Bindra said that it had taught him that there was no guarantee in sport no matter how well you do everything right. He said that he learnt that one had to be perfect on an imperfect day. However, somebody had convinced him then that his time would come and it came four years later in 2008 at Beijing.
The Olympian said that the country too needed to make strides in the arena of sports. He said that in this respect China could be emulated as it won its first shooting gold in 1984, even though many would not agree to send their five-year-olds to far off training centres to become champions.
Speaking about the 2012 London Olympics, Bindra said that he was hopeful of clinching another medal. He stated that he would work very hard and give his best for a medal at the Olympics. The ace marksman had secured a place in the London Olympics after finishing a poor eighth in the 10m air rifle event of the Shooting World Cup in Munich in June this year.
Speaking on India’s prospects, the Khel Ratna and Arjuna awardee said that all shooters- Gagan Narang, Hariom Singh, Sanjeev Rajput, Ronjan Sodhi, Annuraj Singh, Rahi Sarnoba, Vijay Kumar - qualified for the Olympics were capable of winning medals and some of them had won laurels recently too.
Born on September 28, 1982 to Apjit and Babli Bindra at Dehradun, Uttarakhand, Abhinav Bindra, currently is the World and Olympic champion in the 10m Air Rifle event. The gurus to spot the talent in the young lad were Amit Bhattacharjee and Lt. Col. Dhillon. In the year 2000, he happened to be the youngest and scored 590 to be placed 11th in the qualification round. Currently training under five-time Olympic shooter Gabriele Bühlmann of Switzerland, Bindra hopes to win more honours.
It was a proudest moment for Bindra in 2010, when at the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony he got the honour of leading the Indian contingent. He also took the athletes’ oath on behalf of the 6,700 participants from 71 countries and territories.
Bindra did his schooling at Doon School, Dehradun, and his graduation in Bachelors in Business Management from University of Colorado, US. Currently, he is pursuing a Doctorate in Masters of Business Management and Diploma in Sports Mental Management from Munich. However, on September 8, 2008, he was conferred Honorary Doctorate in Literature from SRM University, Chennai.
Box
Honour Scroll
· 2008 - Beijing Olympic Gold Medalist 700.5
· 2010 - Gold and Silver Medalist at Intershoot Netherlands
· 2007 - Gold Medalist Air Rifle Australian Cup, Sydney
· 2006 - World Champion Air Rifle World Championship Zagreb
· 2006 - Common Wealth Games, Melbourne – Gold, Silver, Bronze medalist
· 2005 - Asian Shooting Championship Bangkok - Gold Medalist
· 2005 - National Champion
· 2004 - Broke the Olympic Record of 96 Atlanta Olympics at Athens Olympics
· 2004 - Common Wealth Games Record Holder
· 2004 - Athens Olympics (Finalist)
Awards:
• 2009 - Padma Bhushan
· 2009 - Rajiv Gandhi Award
· 2009 - Bharat Shiromani Award
· 2009 - India Youth Sports Icon
· 2001 - Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award
· 2000 - Arjuna Award
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