The Indian shooter duo of Elavenil Valarivan and
Divyansh Singh Panwar on Monday won the gold medal in the Mixed 10m Air Rifle
event in the ongoing Shooting World Cup in New Delhi.

The second name in the duo, Panwar’s grand entry
into the world of rifle shooting happened in 2019 through winning the silver
medal in the 10-metre air rifle event in ISSF World Cup at the age of 16.
Furthermore, if the Tokyo Olympic had taken place as per its original schedule in
2020, then it would make Panwar an Olympian even before he turned 18.

Also read: ISSF World Cup: India wins gold in Mixed 10m Air Rifle event

Originating from Rajasthan, a land of esteemed
shooters including Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Apurvi Chandela and Om Prakash
Mitharwal, Panwar began his training at a tender age of 12, in Jangpura
shooting range in the Rajasthani capital of Jaipur.

Shifting to Delhi in 2017, Panwar began training
under coach Deepak Kumar Dubey. Reportedly, he won all the 10M air rifle events
in the junior and youth nationals, including Youth Men’s and Junior Men’s trials.

A major blow for the shooter, however, came in 2019
as he was unable to grab any of the top three spots in the ISSF World Cup in
New Delhi, finishing 12th with a score of 672.2.

Also read: Elavenil Valarivan: ISSF World Cup gold medal-winning Indian shooter

A path towards the top spot arguably started from
that point.

In the ISSF World Shooting Championship in 2018,
Panwar won the 10m air rifle mixed event alongside Shreya Agarwal.

In 2019, he won two gold medals in the mixed 10m
event, partnering with Anjum Moudgil and Croatia’s Snjezana Pejcic respectively.

Also read: Japan tourism suffers fallout of Tokyo Olympics overseas fan ban

The final success came on Monday, as a journey that
turned in 2020 into practicing in coach Dubey’s Delhi apartment due to COVID-19
restrictions, witnessed finality in the form of a gold medal in the ISSF shooting
World Cup.