Suma Shirur (born 10 May 1974) is a former Indian

shooter Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles can ...

who competed in the

10 metre air rifle 10 metre air rifle (N.B. For "Meter" in this article – read "Metre") is an International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) shooting event, shot at a bullseye target over a distance of using a calibre air rifle with a maximum weight of . It ...

event. She is a joint world record holder in the event, having scored the maximum of 400 points in the qualification round, which she achieved at the 2004 Asian Shooting Championships in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

. In 2003, she was awarded the Arjuna Award by the

government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

. She is currently the High Performance Coach of the Indian Jr. Rifle Shooting Team. She is also the coach of 2020 Paralympics women's SH1 10m rifle gold and women's SH1 50m 3-position rifle bronze medalist Avani Lekhara On 30 November of 2022, she was conferred the

Dronacharya Award The Dronacharya Award, officially known as Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games, is sports coaching honour of the Republic of India. The award is named after Drona, often referred as "Dronacharya" or "Guru Drona", a ...

by the 15th President of India,

Droupadi Murmu Droupadi Murmu (, born 20 June 1958) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the 15th president of India since 25 July 2022. She is the first person belonging to the tribal community and also the second woman after Pratibha Patil to hol ...

Early life

Suma Betaraya Dixit was born on 10 May 1974, in

Chikkaballapur Chikkaballapur is the district headquarters of the newly created Chikkaballapur district in the state of Karnataka, India, which is carved out from Kolar district. It is located within 3 km of Muddenahalli (the birthplace of eminent engine ...

, in the

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

state of India. She completed her education in

Navi Mumbai Navi Mumbai (), is a planned city situated on the west coast of the Indian subcontinent, located in the Konkan division of Maharashtra state, on the mainland of India. Navi Mumbai is part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The city i ...

, doing schooling in St. Xavier's High School, Nerul, Junior College in Fr. Agnel's Vashi and college education in

South Indian Education Society South Indian Education Society (SIES), founded in 1932, is one of the oldest educational societies in Mumbai. SIES has established a high school, a group of arts, science and commerce colleges, along with academic and professional institutions of ...

graduating in Chemistry. During her graduation course, she was a part of the

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. This was when she discovered her interest in shooting and then on took to the sport under the watchful eyes of Dronacharya awardee Sanjay Chakraverty and Shri. B. P. Bam at the Maharashtra Rifle Association.

Career

In 1993, as a part of the Maharashtra Rifle Association, Shirur won three silver medals at the Maharashtra State Championship. Following her win at the Junior National Championships in 1994 in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, she became the junior national champion. She then represented her home state of Karnataka at the 1997 National Games in

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

, where she won the gold medal in the 10 metre air rifle event. Shirur made her name at the international stage winning medals at the 2002 Asian Games in

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, ...

and the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, where she won medals in the individual and team events of 10 metre air rifle. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Shirur stood eighth in the final, having scored a total of 497.2 points in

the event ''The Event'' (stylized as THE EVƎNT) is an American television series containing elements of science fiction, action/adventure and political allegory. It was created by Nick Wauters and aired on NBC from September 20, 2010 to May 23, 2011. ...

. In the same year, at the Asian Athletics Championships in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

, she created a joint world record in the qualification round, when she scored the maximum of 400 points. She went on to win the gold medal in the event, scoring a total of 502.3 points in the final. At the 2005 Championships in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

, she won the bronze medal. Following a hiatus, Shirur returned to competitive shooting in 2010, winning a gold medal at the InterShoot Shooting Championship at

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

Personal life

Shirur is married to Siddharth Shirur, an architect. In 2006, she founded the Lakshya Shooting Club in New Panvel, an organization to support budding shooters, with the mission of "Live for the glory of the game. Strive for perfection. Create and instill confidence, with sportsmanship spirit".

International participation & medals won

*Asian Games 2002, Busan, South Korea , Silver Medal - 10 m air rifle team *Commonwealth Games 2002, Manchester , 2 Medals - Gold in 10 m air rifle pairs and Silver in 10 m air rifle individual event *Asian Shooting Championship 2004, Kuala lumper, Malaysia , Gold Medal -Individual *Asian Games 2006, Doha, Qatar , Bronze Medal - 10 m air rifle team *Asian Air Gun Championship 2008, Nanjing, China , Gold Medal *Hungarian Open 2008, Gyor, Hungary , Gold Medal *Intershoot 2008, Den HAAG, Netherlands , Gold Medal *Commonwealth Games 2010, New Delhi, India , Bronze Medal - 10 m air rifle pairs *Intershoot 2014, Den HAAG, Netherlands , Bronze Medal *Intershoot 2015, Den HAAG, Netherlands , Silver Medal *Asian Air Gun Championship 2016, Tehran , Silver Medal

Awards and recognition

*Shiv Chatrapati Krida Puraskar in 1996 by Govt of Maharashtra *Arjuna Award in 2003 by Govt of India *Sportswoman of the Year in 2005 by Hero Honda Sports Awards *Dronacharya Award in 2022 by Govt of India

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shirur, Suma 1974 births Living people Indian female sport shooters ISSF rifle shooters Olympic shooters of India Shooters at the 2004 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in shooting Commonwealth Games gold medallists for India Commonwealth Games silver medallists for India Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for India Shooters at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Shooters at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Asian Games medalists in shooting Asian Games silver medalists for India Asian Games bronze medalists for India Shooters at the 2002 Asian Games Shooters at the 2006 Asian Games Shooters at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games 21st-century Indian women 21st-century Indian people People from Chikkaballapur Sportswomen from Karnataka Recipients of the Arjuna Award Recipients of the Dronacharya Award