Vijayveer Sidhu: All You Need to Know About Her Background, Career, Family, Personal Life

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Vijayveer Sidhu is one of two shooters who will compete in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol event at the Paris 2024 Olympics. He was born on June 21, 2002, in Mansa, Punjab. He was motivated to take up sports shooting by Indian shooter Gagan Narang.

Vijayveer has represented India in several international shooting competitions, including the ISSF Junior World Cup in 2018, the World Championships in 2021, and the 2022 Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China.

He was a member of the Indian team that secured the bronze medal in the 25m rapid fire pistol event at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou. Additionally, he holds the Junior World Record in the 25m standard pistol team event, which he achieved alongside his brother Udhayveer Singh and Adarsh.

Early Life and Education

Vijayveer and his identical twin brother Udhayveer Singh Sidhu began their journey in shooting at the age of 8 during a summer camp at St. Xavier's School in Mansa. Their father, Gurpreet Singh Sidhu, motivated them to pursue the sport and relocated the family to Sector 51 in Chandigarh in 2015 to support their training. Their mother, Rani Kaur, works as a school teacher. His father passed away in 2017 due to prolonged illness.

Shooting Career

He received professional training from coach DS Chandel. In June 2018, Vijayveer gained recognition after winning the gold medal in the 25m air pistol event at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Cup in Suhl, Germany.

Notably, he and his brother achieved this feat using borrowed pistols; Vijayveer shot with the gun of his teammate and friend Arjun Singh Cheema while his brother used their coach's pistol.

In an interview, Vijayveer mentioned that they also won medals with borrowed pistols at the Junior ISSF World Championships in Changwon.

In November 2021, Vijayveer clinched the gold medal in the junior men's 25m sports pistol event at the 64th National Shooting Championship held at the Dr. Karni Singh Range in Tughlakabad, narrowly defeating his twin brother Udhayveer by just one point. Vijayveer scored 289 in the first stage and 298 in the second, while Udhayveer recorded scores of 292 and 294 in the two stages.

On January 13, 2024, Vijayveer Sidhu secured an Olympic quota spot for the Paris Olympics in the 25m rapid fire event by earning a silver medal at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers held in Jakarta, Indonesia.