Abhishek Verma (Shooter) Height, Age, Family, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Abhishek Verma

• Abhishek Verma is an Indian shooter who competes in 10-metre air pistol events.

• He was inclined towards sports since his childhood. While he was in school, he participated in various sports competitions, and he even participated in state-level badminton competitions.

• He developed an interest in shooting in 2014. At that time, his father was posted in Fatehabad, Haryana. Abhishek started his professional shooting training in Hisar, and later, he joined Eklavya Shooting Academy in Gurugram, Haryana.

• In 2014, Abhishek’s father was posted in Fatehabad, Haryana from where Abhishek developed an interest in shooting. Initially, he started shooting as a hobby and joined Eklavya Shooting Academy in Gurugram, Haryana. In an interview, he shared how he developed an interest in shooting. He said,

My father is a judge and he’d get transferred every three years to a new district of Haryana. One day, I got to know about a shooting range in Hisar. I joined there. Within months, people started telling me that I could achieve great things in this sport, I was a natural. That boosted my morale. I started taking shooting seriously. Later, we got transferred to Fatehabad. I’d still come to Hisar every day by bus to practise. My father suggested I set up a shooting range at home to save on the travel time. But it wasn’t satisfying to practise at home.”

He further added,

The beginning was with a rifle and then for a while I tried out my hands-on pistol shooting but had to stop in middle due to my semester exams. I got back to it in 2015 but it was still a hobby. It was only in 2017 that I started to take it seriously. I always wanted to try out shooting but we didn’t have the platform. Then in 2014 while I was in a gym, I overheard two people talking about a new shooting range that was coming up in Hisar. I took the address from them and that changed everything.”

Abhishek Verma while practising shooting

• He started shooting as a hobby, but later, when he stood fifth in the All India University Games competition, he started taking shooting seriously.

• He then started competing in various national and international shooting competitions. His first silver medal was in 2018 at the Kerala Shooting National competition. He has represented India in ISSF World Cup and Olympics several times. During an interview, while talking about handling the pressure before the game, he said,

There’s a certain amount of pressure when you participate in nationals but it multiplies in international tournaments. When you are involved in the final round of competition and have the lead, you start thinking about the medal but it’s important to detach yourself from the result. It’s extremely vital at that moment to just think about the shooting, the technique. You need to shut out the world. I always listen to my favourite music before my game and it works for me. When I shot a bad series I tell myself that I’m doing a mistake, to stop it and to keep using my technique.”

Abhishek Verma in a shooting competition in 2018

• On winning a bronze medal in the10 m Air Pistol Event at the Asian Games in 2018, Amul India congratulated him on its official Facebook page.
  

  Amul India’s Facebook post congratulating Abhishek Verma

• In an interview, he shared how he had been practising amid the coronavirus lockdown in 2020 and 2021. He said,

I have stepped out twice – once for fixing my spectacle and another time to get my gym equipments. I am working out at home nowadays. I like to practice 365 days a year but right now I am able to do only dry practice. When I came home, the plan was to only stay for two-three days, but then the lockdown was announced and I got stuck here But there is no other way at the moment given the situation. I can only hope that things normalise and I am able to go back and start practising again. Definitely, it will be different now that the Olympics have been postponed. It’s not easy to maintain the focus and form. So I will concentrate on maintaining my form and focus till the Games.”

• As of 2021, he has been ranked No. 1 in the 10 m Air Pistol men category by the ISSF. ^[3]ISSF

• In an interview, he shared his regular practice schedule. He said,

I train at least 5 days a week, 4 to 5 hours a day. I do this in blocks of at least two hours. Then I hit the gym in the evening. I train without a coach but we have coaches always for assistance whenever needed. I would recommend people to just learn to shoot and to do shot grouping fire, not to always think of scores.”

• He received a provisional enrollment certificate from the Bar Council of Punjab & Haryana in 2021, and in an interview, he shared that he wanted to practice as a cybercrime lawyer.
  

  Abhishek Verma’s provisional enrollment certificate

• In 2021, Abhishek represented India in the 10 m Air Pistol event in the Tokyo Olympics 2020. The event was postponed to 2021, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

• To improve his focus, he regularly practices Yoga and meditation.
  

  Abhishek Verma while exercising

• He is very fond of cars and has posted various pictures and videos of cars on his Instagram account. He has a Nissan car, and on his Instagram account, he shared that his favourite car is Range Rover, and his dream car is Lamborghini.
  

  Abhishek Verma with his car

• Abhishek loves to play the guitar and piano whenever he gets time from his busy schedule.
  

  Abhishek Verma with his guitar

• In an interview, he shared that he was good friends with the Indian shooter Saurabh Chaudhary who is 12 years younger than him. He further said,

Saurabh Chaudhary and I were selected to represent India in the 10 m air pistol at the Asian Games. We were roommates in Jakarta. I remember Saurabh had played in several junior competitions before but for me, it was my first. Saurabh and I are good friends. We both are vegetarians. So, whenever we travel to foreign countries, we both go out hunting for veg food together. That’s helped us bond.”

Abhishek Verma with Saurabh Chaudhary

• During an interview, while talking about Abhishek, his father said,

He always wanted to make up for lost time ever since he first casually visited a range in Hisar, where I was posted, back in 2014. He sacrificed most of the simple joys of life—friends, social media, TV or films. He confines himself to his room where he reads books on shooting and watches videos to improve his skills. He trains five-six hours a day.”