NEW DELHI: If not a shooter, Shapath Bharadwaj could have been seen dealing with deadlines, just like his journalist father, S Raju. In a house where books and newspapers were always around, there were expectations that Raju‘s son would follow the same path.Shapath did well in studies too. He was a class topper from childhood and a favourite among his teachers. But somewhere in his mind, he had already chosen a different path – shooting.Shapath fell in love with shooting at an early age – nine – after watching his elder brother train. His father initially thought his younger son, who was so good at academics, simply wanted to try the sport out of curiosity. He did not know that the sound of gunshots would draw his son in at such a young age.Years later, that passion has taken Shapath to the Asian Games, where he will represent India in trap shooting.The startShapath was nine when he first saw his elder brother, Shrey Bharadwaj, train at a shooting range. He had already seen guns at home and heard conversations about competitions, but this was different. For the first time, he heard the gunshots, saw clay targets being hit and watched them break into pieces.He was hooked.The nine-year-old went home and told his father, “Papa, I also want to become a shooter. I also want my own gun.”Instead of laughing off his son’s demand or ignoring it as a child’s passing interest, Raju decided to help shape his dream.The ‘dummy’ shotgunShapath kept asking for his own gun. His father eventually approached a carpenter, showed him a real shotgun, and asked him to make a dummy one that looked exactly like it.
Shapath with his mom and dad.
“I still remember. The first thing the carpenter said was, ‘The police will take me to jail. How can I make this?'” Shapath recalls with a smile.“I was so happy when my father gave me that wooden dummy gun. It was my first gun, and I still have it at home. My brother helped me use it for dry training at home. That was a special day in my life,” he says.The journey beginsFor Shapath, studies and shooting soon started going hand in hand.A schoolboy in his uniform, sitting in the back of his Nano while his father drove from Meerut to the shooting range, with his mother helping him study during the journey, became a regular sight.The journey from Meerut to the Karni Shooting Range in Tughlakabad could take three-and-a-half to four hours one way, depending on the traffic and road conditions. The family made the trip four times a week.
Shapath Bharadwaj
“There were big cars at the shooting range. My father used to bring me in a Nano. People used to come in big cars, but that never bothered me or affected me. I was just happy that I was shooting. I was taught from childhood that you cannot judge a person by the car they come in,” he says.Those long journeys also taught him lessons that went beyond shooting.“That routine taught me discipline. You have to sleep on time, wake up on time and finish your work on time. Even while travelling, I was doing my school work. I was studying in the car,” he says.The Asian Games callHis route to the Asian Games team was built on a series of strong performances on the international stage.At the 13th International Grand Prix in Porpetto, Italy, in 2016, Shapath won gold medals in both the individual and team events in double trap. He followed that with a silver in the team event at the 8th International Shotgun Cup in Orimattila, Finland.
Shapath Bharadwaj
In 2017, he continued his medal-winning run. He won bronze in the individual event at the ISSF World Cup in Porpetto before helping India win gold in the team event at the 9th International Shotgun Cup in Orimattila. Later that year, he won another gold in the team event at the ISSF World Championship in Moscow, Russia.Shapath added two more medals in 2018 at the ISSF World Championship/Grand Prix in Changwon, South Korea, winning bronze in the individual event and gold in the team event.In 2019, he won bronze in the individual trap event at the Italy Open Green Cup in Todi, Italy.In 2022, he won gold in the team event at the ISSF World Championship in Osijek, Croatia, and bronze in the team event at the ISSF World Cup in Lima, Peru. In 2023, he won silver in the junior individual trap event at the 15th Asian Shooting Championship in Changwon. In 2026, he added another silver to his international record by finishing second in trap at the ISSF World Cup in Lonato, Italy.The Asian Games call came while he was competing at the ISSF World Cup in Almaty, Kazakhstan.“I was playing in the World Cup in Almaty at that time. My coach came to me and told me about my selection. That was when I found out that I had made the Asian Games team,” he recalls.
Shapath with his Coach
‘It’s an opportunity’Excitement or pressure? Shapath prefers another word – opportunity.“For me, it is more of an opportunity. To represent your country, to give everything for your country and your flag, and to work hard. Whenever we go to an international competition, the first thought in my mind is that we are wearing the Indian flag. There is pride in representing India, but there is also a feeling of responsibility,” he says.
Shapath Bharadwaj
“The target is the same. I just have to follow my process, follow my basics and execute them. One target at a time, till the end,” he says.For the boy who once travelled for hours from Meerut in a Nano, studied in the back seat of the car and did dry training with a wooden dummy gun, the Asian Games is another step in a journey that began at the age of nine.And according to Shapath, that journey has only just begun.
