YOUNG GUN READY FOR SHOT AT GLORY

What began as a fun game at a carnival years ago unexpectedly set Surya Mohan Jha on a path to becoming a national para-shooter.

- Kimberly Kwek Sports Correspondent

Singaporean para-shooter Surya Mohan Jha is aiming to build on his historic outing at the 2025 World Abilitysport Games.

(ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG)

While on a family holiday in Bintan at the age of nine, he tried his hand at a game that required him to shoot down wooden blocks with pellets from a wooden rifle.

To the surprise of his father and the booth owner, he cleared the farthest row with ease.

He collected a stuffed toy as his prize, but returned home with much more.

Back in Singapore, he took up shooting as a hobby, training at the range on the weekends.

For Surya, who has lower limb weakness and uses leg braces for stability, shooting was a sport he could truly call his own.

Now 18, the Singapore American School student said: “I don’t have that much mobility, so I was very happy that I found a static sport that I was very good at.

“That’s why I really enjoyed shooting as well.

“Because sure, my friends could shoot basketballs, kick soccer balls better, but I could do this to the best of my ability. I liked that I could compete in it properly.”

In 2023, he signed up for his first competition — the Singapore Cup — after a Singapore Disability Sports Council (SDSC) official encouraged him to do so.