Profile: Annu Raj Singh
Annu Raj Singh became the first Indian woman shooter to secure Olympics quota place. Annu Raj Singh bagged silver medal at ISSF World Cup to do so.
Sport: Shooting
Born: 17 February 1984, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh
Event: 10m Air Pistol
About Annu Raj Singh:
Annu Raj Singh became the first Indian woman shooter to secure London Olympics quota place on 15th May 2011, when she bagged silver medal at the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup in Fort Benning, USA.
Singh, who never won the world cup earlier qualified for the finals with a maximum of 389 points.
She was the next Indian to join the league for the Olympics after shooters Gagan Narang, Hari Om Singh, Sanjeev Rajput and Ronjan Sodhi.
The 28-year old from Aligarh also won gold in 10m air pistol (pairs) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi pairing with Heena Sidhu. In 2012 she also won the bronze at the 2012 Asian Championships, Doha.
She had just turned 13 when the shooting bug bit her in 1998. It was not by chance though as a lot of her immediate family - mother (State level), father (All India level) and elder brother (National level) - are shooter in their own capacity. The very first junior nationals Annu participated in, resulted not only in medals but also a record.
It was in 2002 that the real journey began though as she won the National Junior Championship in 256m pistol event. Since then there was no looking back for the UP girl. Having participated in 10 National Championships, she has a huge haul of 27 medals. The 33rd National Games, 2007 were equally productive with 3 golds and 1 silver. In 2009, Annu Raj was the national champion in 10m pistol.
2010 was particularly amazing for her. The year started with 1 Gold and 2 Silvers at the Commonwealth Shooting Championship followed by the Gold at Delhi Commonwealth Games which was followed by a Silver in the same event at the Asian Games, Guangzhou.
What makes these achievements extra special is the fact that she has done all this without the backing of any national coach.
She wanted to be a doctor but if she manages to surprise with a medal at the Games, no one will ever complain.
Previous Olympics: None