Parag Patel, one of England's most successful shooters, says that this Commonwealth Games will be his last - as he fears his wife could divorce him if he doesn’t retire. This 42-year-old Commonwealth medalist is an ENT consultant at Kingston Hospital. Patel, who has three children under 10 with his orthodontist wife Urvi, said, “this will be my last games and shooting wouldn’t be there in Birmingham (the host city of the 2022 Commonwealth Games). But mainly I have got to a point in my life where I have to focus on my children. This is my fourth games. I think if I had any more, my wife might divorce me ... and my kids might not know me. I think my wife suffers silently. She is wonderful. But this will be my last games.”
Patel has won three Commonwealth golds, one silver and two bronzes earlier. In Gold Coast he along with David Luckman won gold in Queen's prize pair shooting. He also won bronze in individual shooting. He said balancing his work in the NHS with having a young family and training was difficult. He added: “I am a surgeon so I have no time. I have three boys at home as well who want me. It is busy. They go to sleep at 8, so I get a couple of hours to myself at night.”
He is passing on his passion for shooting to his son Aaron. “My nine-year-old has started shooting now so I plan to focus on him,” he said. “He is really good, really good for a nine-year-old. When he sees me celebrate a win, he is like ‘I want to do that.’ He is pretty competitive already. It is infectious, isn’t it.”
Patel started shooting while studying at Epsom College in Surrey and continued at Kings College London. He said: “We had to do it during cadet training and I found I was really good at it.” At first his father, who was anti-guns, did not approve.
He said: “My dad wouldn’t let me have a water pistol at home. So then I got into this, and he was a bit like… ‘OK’.” He added: It was nice to have it when I was going through medical school. My yearbook basically said I was always absent from various medical lessons due to shooting. But I still passed my exams.”
