Arjun Cheema: All You Need to Know About Olympics 2024 Shooter’s Background, Career, Family, Personal Life

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Arjun Cheema is an Indian shooter who will be competing in the men's 10m air pistol event in the Paris 2024 Olympics. Cheema was born on June 13, 2001, in Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab.

In the Olympic Shooting trials, which took place in April this year, Cheema finished in first place in the 10m air pistol event. He also lost a bonus point because of an official mistake. Sarabjot Singh also qualified for the 10m air pistol event. Both shooters will be in action on July 27 in the qualification round.

Early Life and Education of Arjun Cheema

Cheema completed his education at Om Prakash Bansal Model School in Mandi Gobindgarh. He hails from a family with a strong sports background; his grandfather, Sardar Balwinder Singh, represented India in football, and his uncle, Jagwinder Singh Cheema, holds an Asian Junior Powerlifting record.

He is the nephew of the famous Punjabi actor Binnu Dhillon. Initially, Arjun began his athletic journey as a swimmer and participated in an International Junior Swimming Championship in Austria before transitioning to the sport of shooting.

Shooting Career of Arjun Cheema

Cheema began his professional career in 2015 under the mentorship of coaches Joshi Parvez, Kumar Holinder, and Jaspal Rana. In 2018, he was a member of the Indian team that secured the team gold at the ISSF Junior World Cups conducted in Suhl and Sydney.

Additionally, he achieved gold in the 50m pistol event for Junior men at the World Championships held in Changwon, Korea, during the same year. In 2019, he secured two gold medals at the 52nd ISSF World Championship which took place in South Korea.

In 2021, Cheema, Shaurya Sarin, and Ajinkya Chavan achieved a combined score of 549 points out of a maximum of 600 in the 50m pistol event. In 2022, Cheema triumphed in the national men's 50m pistol selection trials held at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range.

The Indian team, comprising Sarabjot Singh, Cheema, and Shiva Narwal, clinched the gold medal in the 10m air pistol team event at the 19th Asian Games held in Hangzhou in 2023. Arjun finished in eighth place with a score of 578 points and 19 bullseyes.

Sarabjot achieved the highest score of 580 points with 18 bullseyes, while Shiva scored 576 points with 13 bullseyes. Individually, Arjun was the first to be eliminated, ending in eighth position.