Asher Noria

Asher Noria (born 20 November 1992)[1] is an Indian shooter. He has won several national and international medals for India. He is the only shooter in the world who has won the double trap event of the International Shooting Junior World Cup for two consecutive years.[3][4]

Asher Noria
Born20 November 1992 (1992-11-20) (age 28)[1]
Hyderabad, India[2]
NationalityIndian
OccupationRifle shooting

Career

Early career (2005–2006)

Asher Noria is the son of Gusti Jall Noria, a former double trap specialist from India. He is the younger brother of Youhan Noria, an ex-National shooter. He picked up shooting from his father at a very young age.[5] His mother Mita Noria and father supported him by being there with him when he participated at competitions. Having come from a shooting family, shooting skills came naturally to Noria.[6] As an 11-year-old in 2005, Asher Noria participated in the double trap event. He was first seen at a shooting championship in Hyderabad.[7] Six time Olympian, Juan Giha, saw a lot of promise in Noria at such a young age.[8]

Although Noria originally started as a trap shooter, he switched to double trap owing to his success in it. Noria trained for five months under the aegis of Ronjan Sodhi.[5] Noria trains for physical fitness using team games, cardio routines and running around Hyderabad's Kasu Brahmananda Reddy National Park.[9]

Success (2007 – present)

Noria represented Andhra Pradesh in national level competitions winning several medals.[10][11] From 2007 onwards, he started winning medals for India in international competitions.[12]

Noria's foray into international competitions began with Cyprus World Championships where he finished sixth. At the Kuwait Asian Shooting Championships, he met Ahmed bin Hasher Al Maktoum, his idol and the gold medal winner in the double trap event at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Noria found this meeting to be inspirational and holds it close to his heart.[5]

At the 2008 Singapore Open, Noria won his first international gold medal.[9] His next gold medal came 2 months later at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games, where he bettered the national record set by Rajyavardhan Rathore at the 2004 Summer Olympics.[13] Noria won the gold medal at the 2009 International Junior World Cup Shooting Championship in the same category.[14] At the 2010 World Championships in Munich, Noria won the gold medal in junior double trap event.[15] In the process, he also created a new national record in the junior category.[16] In appreciation of his performance in Munich, the Sahara Group felicitated Noria with a cash prize of ₹300,000 (US$4,200).[17]

2010 Commonwealth Games

Because Rajyavardhan Rathore chose to protest the selection process, Noria was selected to represent India at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.[18] He was chosen for all the shotgun events along with Ronjan Sodhi and Manavjit Singh Sandhu.[19] In the run-up to the Games, India's coach said that Noria was one of the young shooters to watch out for.[20] However, Noria felt that it would be a challenge for him to match Rathore.[21]

In the men's double trap pairs event, Noria paired with Ranjan Sodhi to win the silver medal.[22] In the double trap individual event, Noria missed the bronze medal narrowly.[23] Sodhi, who won the silver medal, commended Noria's first international performance in the men's category.[24]

Education

Noria finished his schooling at Hyderabad Public School. He was the school head-boy. In August 2010, he enrolled at Armstrong Atlantic State University with a plan to major in engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.[25] Despite moving to the United States, Noria clarified that he will continue the sport for India.[26]

References
  1. "Portrait of the Shooter". International Shooting Sport Federation. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  2. Sood, Aman (6 August 2010). "Noria shoots gold at junior worlds". The Indian Express. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  3. "It's two on the trot for Asher Noria". The Hindu. 14 May 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  4. "Asher Noria strikes gold at World Shooting Championship". Daily News and Analysis. 6 August 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  5. "Teen Betters Rathore's Athens Double Trap Score". Daijiworld.com. 16 October 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  6. "Asher is on a winning spree". Deccan Chronicle. 8 October 2010. Archived from the original on 9 October 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  7. "Making a mark". The Hindu. 5 January 2005. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  8. A., Joseph Antony (24 November 2005). "Giving it the best shot". The Hindu. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  9. Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (25 October 2008). "Young marksmen strike gold". The Hindu. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  10. "Manavjit wins national trap gold". Indo-Asian News Service. 25 December 2007. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  11. "Chenai wins individual trap gold". The Hindu. 27 November 2007. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  12. "Raghunath wins gold". The Hindu. 8 December 2007. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  13. "India consolidates top position in CYG". The Hindu. 15 October 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  14. Sharma, Nitin (30 April 2009). "Noria strikes gold in junior World Cup". The Indian Express. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  15. "Noria wins gold in Munich World Championship". The Times of India. 5 August 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  16. "Shooter Noria wins gold in junior international event". The Hindu. 1 May 2009. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  17. "Meritorious shooters feted". The Indian Express. 18 August 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  18. "Bindra, Narang in India's CWG shooting team". MSN.com. 9 February 2010. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  19. Dutt, Tushar (2 September 2010). "National Rifle Association of India names strong field". Daily News and Analysis. Archived from the original on 5 September 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  20. "How many medals will hosts India win?". Indo-Asian News Service. 6 September 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  21. "Stepping into Rathore's shoes will be a challenge: Asher Noria". Indo-Asian News Service. 26 September 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  22. "Commonwealth Games 2010 shooting: England duo win gold". BBC. 6 October 2010. Archived from the original on 9 October 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  23. Dutt, Tushar (7 October 2010). "Shooters Gurpreet Singh and Vijay Kumar win gold in 25m rapid fire pistol event". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  24. Srinivasan, Kamesh (8 October 2010). "Indians take air pistol, rapid fire pistol pairs". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 10 October 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  25. Balcom, Katie R. (23 September 2010). "Asher Noria brings double trouble to AASU". The Inkwell Online. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  26. Cyriac, Biju Babu (6 August 2010). "Noria equals world junior record in double trap". The Times of India. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
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