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Dr. Karni Singh was the leading light of Indian shooting sport. The Maharaja of the erstwhile princely state of Bikaner, Karni Singh was an ace skeet shooter.
Born on April 21, 1924, at Bikaner in Rajasthan, Maharaja Karni Singh won the National Championship in Clay Pigeon Trap and Skeet for 17 years (1960 to 1977). He spearheaded the Indian challenge in various international competitions and participated in five Olympic Games-- Rome, Tokyo, Mexico, Munich and Moscow.
Shooter par excellence, Karni Singh won awards galore throughout his illustrious career, the watermark being the silver medal at the 38th World Shooting Championships at Cairo in 1962. He was conferred with the Arjuna award in 1961, the first ever shooter to be rewarded with this national honor.
A true-blue royal, Karni Singh was a man of varied interests and a member of the Indian Parliament for 25 years from 1952 to 1977. In honour of this legendary shooter, India's only international standard shooting range in Delhi has been named as Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range.
