Sri Lanka’s top junior marksman in the 10-metre Air Rifle event Vidura Peiris aims for glory at the International Sports Shooting Federation (ISSF) Rifle and Pistol World Cup to be held in New Delhi, India, from February 20 to 28.
The 18-year-old student of Thurstan College, is the only schoolboy in the 16-member Sri Lanka shooting team that will compete in this event.
It will be the second major international competition for the bespectacled teenager who has been Sri Lanka’s Junior national champion in the 10m Air Rifle category for three years.
Vidura made his international debut when he represented Sri Lanka at the ISSF Junior World Championship Rifle/Pistol in Suhl, Germany in 2017.
It was while doing cadeting at Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa, that he was fascinated by the sport in 2014.
He embraced it like a duck to water displaying immense talent to emerge as the best among the Youth category. In his maiden appearance at the National Rifle Shooting Championships in 2015, he was adjudged Best Shooter Men/Youth as a 15-year-old after emerging champion in the junior event with a top score of 555.2 points. He has been consistently on target ever since, improving by leaps and bounds firing scores of 556.3 and 576 at the Nationals in the next two years.
He is a proud holder of a Sri Lanka record when he fired a score of 612 at the Sri Lanka Navy Open Shooting competition in October last year to emerge Youth champion. He also achieved a personal best score of 615.8 which earned him third place when he took part in the Senior category at the same competition.
His achievements caught the eye of Rifle Point who presented him with a Steyr LG100 Swiss Rifle to be used in competitions and also Thurstan College which he joined in January this year to complete his Advanced Level examination.
Vidura Yasodana Peiris whose passion and focus for the shooting sport is almost unrivalled among his peers, seems destined for success thanks to his single-minded determination and dedication.
He devotes at least two hours a day for training physically and mentally at his home in Moratuwa, aiming at a point for practice.
A devout Buddhist, meditation is key to his mental preparation. Vidura is fortunate to receive the support and encouragement from his family members especially his mother Kaushalya Hemachandra and his elder sister Shehara Hashini, an interior designer.
Rear Admiral Udeni Serasinghe, Vipula Wickremarachchi, Maj. Gen. Sathyapriya Liyanage, Nilan Perera and Daminda Cooray, from the Thurstan Old Boys Group of 1982 feel Vidura’s progress is their responsibility. The youngster remembers with gratitude his first coach Manjula Fernando at Prince of Wales, Navy coach Mervyn de Premalal and schools coach Nandana Weerasinghe for guiding him along the way.
Vidura seems to be self-made in this highly individualistic sport which requires not only a good eye but tremendous patience and discipline to succeed. This immensely talented and gifted schoolboy has the vision and ambition to achieve his mission of raising the bar in his quest for glory.
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