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Rudrankksh wins World Cup 10m air rifle gold
The young shooter bagged his second title at the event after claiming the mixed doubles event the previous day
Lagging behind in the ranking round, world champion Rudrankksh Patil shot a perfect 10.9 with his 10th shot to surge ahead in the final of the 10m air rifle in the ISSF World Cup in Cairo. There was no looking back as the 19-year-old set up a gold medal match with Maximilian Ulbrich of Germany. Once Rudrankksh entered his zone he was consistently shooting high scores to win 16-8 for the gold.
It was his second gold medal in the competition, having won the mixed doubles with R Narmada Nithin on Monday.
Rudrankksh has been in sensational form since becoming a world champion and earning a Paris Olympics quota place at the same venue in October.
"The world champion tag has made me responsible, added to my confidence. We have a very good team and everyone is very supportive. I would say life has changed a lot but again with the support of the team, I am much more confident," Rudrankksh said.
He shot 629.3 in his qualification relay and was ranked sixth among shooters competing for a medal.
Training under Heinz Reinkemeier in Germany, who also coached Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra, Rudrankksh is steadily polishing all aspects of his game.
"He is a hugely experienced coach and understands all aspects of the sport, so I am really grateful for his guidance.
"The performance is a mixture of physical, mental aspects and feeling supported emotionally. When all of these come together, we are in a good space."
The youngster from Thane goes into the minutest details of his weapon and recently changed his gun.
"The major thing that has changed is my weapon. But we are taught a lot during the national camp and I was able to implement those things here." Rudrankksh is happier with the mixed team medal.
"This was my first mixed team gold in the World Cup. In previous times I was not able to perform that well. We put a lot of energy and will power to think it out. I was able to bring that confidence from yesterday to my game in the individual event." He looks forward to the World Cup in Bhopal next month.
Tilottama wins bronze
Tilottama Sen, 14, has been making waves with impressive results in the last few months. She won bronze in the junior world championships last year and on Monday won bronze in 10m air rifle in her maiden senior international competition. India had three shooters -- Ramita and Narmada Raju also qualified in the top 8. Sen was doing well in the ranking series before slipping to third with 262 points. Ramita, junior world champion and a teenager with promise, finished fourth.
