Dedicated. Determined. Diligent. Deep.

Deepinder Singh is a husband, U of T alumnus, Hart House Revolver Club veteran, and newest member of the Canadian national team for the 50m free pistol and 10m air pistol events.

“The goal is for an Olympic medal at Beijing,” Singh explained. A lofty goal indeed, but certainly not out of the question for a world-class athlete such as this. In fact, SIngh already holds a record in his native country.

“I was a rifle shooter until ’94, when I set the Indian national three position rifle record,” said Singh. “Most of my mother’s family have been international shooters [and] I started shooting when I was about three.”

After the glories of 1994, Singh decided to give up shooting to move to Canada to pursue his studies and a new life. “It wasn’t until last year that I decided I now had the resources to pursue the family sport seriously again. The goal last year when I restarted was to concentrate on just air pistol for a couple of years with my main focus being the Canadian Air Gun Grand Prix held in Toronto in February each year.”

But the talented Singh proved to excel at more than just the one event. “I did well in my first Grand Prix this year,” said Singh, who placed sixth at the tournament, “and met Richard Horne, coach of the provincial team. He was most instrumental in encouraging me to go to the nationals and start shooting other disciplines besides air pistol. So now I participate in almost all pistol events with air pistol still being the prime focus.”

Things have been steadily improving for Singh since this fateful meeting, and peaked at the National Pistol Championships in Alberta in July. In preparation for the nation-wide event, Singh spent months going through a rigorous training schedule.

“Since last December, right up to the nationals in July, I have been practising for about three hours a day,” he explained. “I practice five days a week plus around five to seven hours a week of other mental and physical workouts.”

All that hard work paid off. At the nationals, Singh had top three finishes in 50m free pistol and 10m air pistol. “I had a glorious time at the nationals,” he continued. “It was glorious to meet and shoot with the veterans, many with more shooting years experience than twice my age!”

Singh’s performance in Alberta this summer earned him a try-out position for Canada’s Olympic team. He detailed the process of the Olympic qualifiers: “The top eight shooters have a shoot-out where they fire 10 shots each, and the score and position is announced after each shot is fired. The top three shooters with the highest aggregate from all the courses of fire are then selected for the national team.” U of T’s own Singh was one of the lucky three that earned a spot on the Olympic team.

For now, however, the try-outs safely behind him, Singh can concentrate on some of the finer things in life, like rest and relaxation. “I am currently off competitive shooting and relaxing right now,” said the future Olympian. Mostly I’m shooting air pistol for fun with my wife in the apartment.”

Singh’s training for next year will start back up at the beginning of October.