After World Deaf C'ships, Dhanush hears the call of 2028 Olympics

Telangana-born shooter Dhanush Srikanth put up a sterling show at the ongoing World Deaf Shooting Championships in Hanover, Germany, winning three gold medals for India in the 10m Air Rifle events.

He also broke the world record in the qualification round, with a score of 632.7 and went on to clinch the gold medal in the 10m individual men’s air rifle event with a total score of 251.7, setting yet another world record in the final. 

Despite being born with a hearing impairment (for which he wears a cochlear implant), Dhanush showcased his sheer calibre by breaking into the Indian shooting contingent in the general category, beating top seeds and world cup winners in his bid to reach the top.

Dhanush vowed to qualify for LA 28

After his impressive performance at the Worlds, Dhanush has now set his sights on representing India in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics (LA 28) with able-bodied athletes.

“He's never satisfied, he was happy after winning three gold medals but he said I could have done better," said Dhanush's mother Asha Srikanth in a press release. 

"That's how Dhanush has been throughout, even after getting a medal, he tries to find areas in which he could improve. Dhanush was training for the Paris 2024 Olympics and even though it didn't really happen for him, we are happy to see him shift target to the 2028 LA Olympics,” said Asha, revealing the 22-year-old’s resilience.

Talking about her son's journey, Asha said, “Dhanush was born deaf but that didn’t stop him from playing sports. In school, he would always come back with medals. So, I put him in Taekwondo when he was in 3rd grade and right now, he is a Dan 2 Taekwondo black belt."

"He also used to shoot toy guns at home as a kid. He would hang a target on the door and shoot for hours. It was when Gagan Narang’s Gun for Glory Trimulgherry Branch opened in 2015 that he joined and really got into professional shooting," she added.

Gagan Narang's role pivotal 

It was in 2015 that Gagan Narang, the 2012 London Olympics medalist, who took Dhanush under his wings. Dhanush has been training under Neha Chavan at Narang's academy Gun for Glory Shooting Academy in Hyderabad since. 

Dhanush's rise has been phenomenal. He won 13 medals en route to the World Championships. He also clinched three gold medals at the Asian Championships in Doha, in the able-body category in 2019.

In 2021, he won a team gold medal at the ISSF Junior World Championship in Lima, Peru. Notably, Dhanush is also the first Indian athlete to win a gold medal at the Deaflympics in 2022, in Brazil.

This is in addition to several domestic achievements including gold in the 2019 Khelo India Games, which made him the first deaf athlete to claim a medal in Khelo India Youth Games.

Crediting Narang for Dhanush's ascendancy on the international level, Asha said, “Whatever Dhanush has achieved today is because of Gagan Narang, without his support nothing would have happened. Gagan has always helped him out in whatever way possible. He trains under the best coach at the academy, and the Gun for Glory Team is always there to support him. In fact, Dhanush has a special bond with the whole team and we are glad to see he feels at home with them."