RUDRANKKSH PATIL, 19 AIR RIFLE SHOOTING

It was as a lad of 12 in 2016 that Rudrankksh Patil set foot in a shooting range for the first time. His father, Balasaheb Patil, was posted as Deputy Commissioner of Police at Thane when he was invited for the inaugural ceremony of the Dronacharya Shooting Range. The coach, Snehal Kadam, asked Rudrankksh’s parents if he would be keen to take up shooting. Father Balasaheb and mother Himangini, a Maharashtra transport department officer, said their son had never shown any inclination towards shooting and was instead keen on football.

Nonetheless, Rudrankksh was given an open sight air rifle, the most rudimentary weapon to begin with in his sport, the 10-metre air rifle event. Initially, he found the pauses and slow pace of the sport a put-off and wanted to return to soccer, but something made him persist. It paid off. In 2016, Rudrankksh won a medal in the district-level competition in Thane, his first recognition and also went on to win a medal at the school-level nationals in Indore. “From an early age, he was well-built and we thought he would be able to handle the weight of the rifle,” says Balasaheb. Rudrankksh then moved to the much more competitive peep sight event and continued his medal haul at state and national competitions. The year 2019 marked a turning point—the Patils decided that Rudrankksh would pursue a full-time career in the sport if he won at a shooting Grand Prix in Europe the same year. Rudrankksh did. In 2022, he proved his mettle at the Cairo World Championship, winning gold and secur

The Chinese are the main competition in my event

ing a berth for India at the Paris Olympics.

Now training for the Asian Games, his day comprises 4-5 hours of shooting practice in the morning and a planned workout in the evening.

Where does he expect the competition to come from? “The Chinese are the main competition,” he says. Rudrankksh’s idol, like of most shooters his generation, is Abhinav Bindra, who won the first individual Olympic medal for India. He trains with a Walther rifle and spends his spare time doing research on his sport. “Rudrankksh has always been interested in mechanics and knows his weapon inside out. He can disassemble and assemble it quickly,” says Balasaheb.

What sets him apart from the others? “Rudrankksh has a champion’s mindset. He also has the ability to dig into his reserves in crisis situations. He is very hard-working, and pays great attention to detail,” says Suma Shirur, former shooter and chief coach of the 10-metre air rifle event.