Gutsy Sidhartha Babu battles disability to hit the bull's eye

New Delhi: With self-belief and hard work, Sidhartha Babu not only overcame his physical challenges but broke the convention to excel in his chosen sport as well. While clinching two medals at the National Shooting Championship in New Delhi competing with mainstream marksmen, the paraplegic shooter hailing from Pangappara near Thiruvananthapuram has made it clear that he would not let his physical challenges stop him from achieving his goals. 

With strong medal contenders like Olympian Chain Singh in the fray, Sidhartha had to be at his best to win silver in the 50-metre rifle prone event. He also secured gold in the civilian championship of the same event. 

Sidhartha was obsessed with guns from a very young age. However, his world turned upside when he met with an accident at the age of 19 and was told that he would never be able to walk for the rest of his life. Despite being left bedridden for a whole year, he turned his rehabilitation into a training ground and poured over books on target shooting to learn the nuances of the sport. 

The self-taught and self-coached Sidhartha, who competes on his self-designed wheelchair, went on to reach the finals in the 2021 Paralympics in Tokyo. Last month, he won a gold at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games. 

According to the 44-year-old, his life is dedicated to overcoming barriers to sports participation for people with disabilities.