Arjun Babuta (born 24 January 1999) is an Indian sport shooter who competes in the 10 m air rifle event. Babuta competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he narrowly missed the podium with a fourth-place finish in the men's 10 m air rifle event.[1]
Early and personal life
Babuta was born on 24 January 1999 in Jalalabad, Punjab, India.[2] He is the son of Neeraj Babuta and renowned Punjabi author-poet Deepti Babuta.[3] He later moved to Chandigarh where he began his career in shooting. He obtained his undergraduate degree from DAV College, Chandigarh, and has a mass communication and journalism degree from Lovely Professional University.[4][5]
Babuta raised the issue of not receiving support from the Punjab State Government even though he was allegedly promised a government job in 2022.[6]
Career
Babuta won one gold medal and one bronze medal in the 10 m air rifle event at 2016 Junior World Cup in Gabala.[7] In 2017, he won silver at the 10th Asian Airgun Championship, Wako City in Japan.[8]
He also won the silver in the 27th Meeting of Shooting Hopes 2017 international junior competition, Plzen, Czech Republic.[9] He won one bronze in 2018 Junior World Cup in Sydney.[10]
A career-threatening back problem kept him out of action from 2018 to 2020. He won gold medals at the 2022 World Cup in Changwon in 10 m air rifle, both in the individual and team events.[4]
At the 2023 Asian Shooting Championships, Babuta won silver in the 10 m air rifle event, earning India a quota place to the 2024 Paris Olympics. He also won gold in the team event with Divyansh Singh Panwar and Hriday Hazarika.[11]
At the 2024 Pairs Olympics, the pair of Babuta and Ramita Jindal finished 6th among 28 teams in the qualifying round of the 10 m air rifle mixed team event, failing to progress to the medal rounds.[12] Babuta made it to the final of men's 10 m air rifle after placing seventh in qualification.[13] He finished fourth in the closely-contested final.[14]
References
- ↑ Arjun Babuta's heartbreaking 4th place finish at Paris Olympics. indianshooting.com(2024-07-29). Retrieved 2025-07-04.
- ↑ Arjun Babuta finishes fourth in Paris Olympics 2024 in Men's 10 meter air rifle: All about his family, education, journey. The Times of India(29 January 2024). Retrieved 25 February 2025.
- ↑ Mohali-based Deepti Babuta becomes first woman to bag Dhahan Prize for Punjabi literature(17 November 2023). Retrieved 4 August 2024.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Once unable to stand for long with troubled back, Arjun Babuta outguns Olympic silver medallist. Sportstar(21 July 2022). Retrieved 28 July 2024.
- ↑ Silver for Arjun in international meet. Tribune India(29 May 2017). Retrieved 28 July 2024.
- ↑ Shooter Arjun Babuta slams Punjab government for lack of support: 'Have not received any benefit'. Firstpost(2024-08-03). Retrieved 2024-08-04.
- ↑ Chandigarh shooter Arjun Babuta shoots bronze at Junior World Cup. Indian Express(2016-09-21).
- ↑ Arjun Babuta claims silver in 10m air rifle at Asian Airgun Championship(2017-12-09).
- ↑ Meeting of Shooting Hopes: Arjun Babuta and Anmol Jain fire silver(2017-05-27).
- ↑ Arjun Babuta shoots his way to bronze at Junior world cup. Indian Express(2018-03-23).
- ↑ Asian Championships: Arjun Babuta's silver and Tilottama Sen's silver secure Olympic quota in the 10m air rifle events. The Times of India(27 October 2023). Retrieved 29 July 2024.
- ↑ Paris Olympics: Indian shooters miss out on medal rounds in 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team event. The Times of India(27 July 2024). Retrieved 29 July 2024.
- ↑ Paris Olympics 2024: PV Sindhu opens campaign with dominant win; Arjun Babuta through to men's 10m air rifle final. DNA india.
- ↑ Paris Olympics 2024: Arjun Babuta misses medal in 10m air rifle men's final, finishes fourth. The Indian Express(29 July 2024). Retrieved 29 July 2024.
External links
- Arjun Babuta at ISSF