For 22-year-old young air rifle shooter Rudrankksh Patil, Asian Games 2026 will always be a core memory. The youngster clinched three medals at the event in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. Patil secured a silver in 10m air rifle men’s team event, another silver in 50m 3P men’s team event and a bronze medal in 10m air rifle individual event at the Asian Games 2026. Talking to HT City about his triumph at the tournament, Patil said, “I was feeling very proud after winning three medals. I was very happy... compared to the last edition of the Asian Games, where I only won one medal. I was very proud that I was able to deliver that. I had faith and the confidence that I could shoot up to a certain score no matter what.”
Patil admits that standing on the podium and listening to the Indian National Anthem is an emotionally overwhelming moment for every athlete. “For me, listening to the Anthem brings tears to my eyes. I try to control it...looking at all the efforts that have been put forward and seeing our country’s flag at the top level, it gives me immense happiness,” he shared.
Ranked fourth in the world, Patil believes that Indians are born shooters and that “we have it in our blood”. “We are one of the most powerful countries around the world [in rifle shooting]. We have won all the major medals which are available in the sport. And I think shooting is the most important sport for collecting as many medals as we can...and the government recognises that and they give a lot of support. It has been in the Olympics for a very long time. People have now started to notice how important it is for our country and how good we are at it,” he said.
Even though there have been infrastructure developments for rifle shooting in the country, Patil mentioned that there can be further improvements made in a few sectors to help the shooters. “I feel like currently we have the highest levels of ranges. They are titled as NCOEs, National Centres of Excellence. The states have developed it...all of those ranges are there, but I feel like we are missing an Olympic range, an Olympic centre, which are only meant for training for Olympics. Other than that, I think we are heavily dependent on equipment outside of our country for weapons, ammo and pellets,” he explained.
{{/usCountry}}Even though there have been infrastructure developments for rifle shooting in the country, Patil mentioned that there can be further improvements made in a few sectors to help the shooters. “I feel like currently we have the highest levels of ranges. They are titled as NCOEs, National Centres of Excellence. The states have developed it...all of those ranges are there, but I feel like we are missing an Olympic range, an Olympic centre, which are only meant for training for Olympics. Other than that, I think we are heavily dependent on equipment outside of our country for weapons, ammo and pellets,” he explained.
{{/usCountry}}When asked him about what he expect further more from the government and leaders to attract more people to take up rifle shooting, he shared, “Interest in sports can only be increased by a couple of things. Of course, high cash incentives can be a lot of motivation for many people. If the cash reward is really high. If the cash rewards are low, people tend to go towards usual jobs... For an athlete, to earn an amount of money is only during the peak years. After that, they cannot earn the same amount of money. [Similarly], job allocations at the central level. Currently, I don’t know about any scheme providing jobs at the central level... Most people think athletes are dumb and that they are only meant for sports. There are many athletes who are smarter and clever, but they spend their youth chasing a dream for the country.”