Pune: Olympic bronze medal-winning pugilist, M C Mary Kom wants her twin sons, Rechungvar and Khupneivar, to take up shooting as a career rather than boxing.
The epitome of a modern day woman, who juggles family and profession, said, "I want my children to take up shooting, and not boxing. As a mother I can see that it is a very safe sport and I will be very happy if both my sons can become good shooters."
The five-time world champion was speaking at the launch of the SEED Gun for Glory Shooting Championship at the packed Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Shooting Range, Balewadi, here today.
The tournament is being organised by the ace shooter and Olympic bronze medallist Gagan Narang`s `Gagan Narang Sports Promotion Foundation` and Gun for Glory Shooting Academy.
The second edition of the championship, to be held from September 12-18, has attracted more than 1200 entries from the participants.
On the occasion, Narang presented an Air Pistol to Mary Kom, who shot an air rifle to mark the inauguration of the championship.
Mary Kom lauded the efforts of the Academy, and said that it was a dream-come-true for her to shoot with an air rifle.
"The success of Indian shooting at the London Olympics needs to percolate down to the grass-root level, and I hope the Gun for Glory Shooting Academy will further popularise shooting amongst our youngsters."
The Iron Lady of Indian boxing said that she will do everything to promote shooting in the North-East region.
Narang thanked SEED Infotech and all the other sponsors for coming forward to support the Championship, and Mary Kom.
"I am thankful to SEED Infotech for promoting shooting amongst the young aspirants and budding shooters. The championship is an unique concept to discover the joy of shooting and learning the sport.
"Mary Kom is an inspiration to millions of youth in India, and I`m confident that her efforts to encourage shooting will bear rich results for Indian shooting," he said.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, September 12, 2012, 23:47