After missing the India team for the 2024 Paris Olympics Games, 2022 World Champion Rudrankksh bounces back in style and sets bigger goals
Rudrankksh Patil was unstoppable at the season’s first ISSF World Cup in Buenos Aires, winning gold in 10m air rifle with a high-quality performance. Such was his control in the final that he led from start to finish — never giving up the lead in the 24-shot match. Hungary’s Istvan Peni — one of the world’s best rifle shooters who finished with a silver medal behind Rudrankksh, was left to admire Patil’s remarkable show in the final.
Peni was looking to win a second gold medal in two days, having won the rifle three positions final a day earlier, but Rudrankksh was on fire. “I would have hoped for another gold but Patil was unbeatable today,” Peni told ISSF media later.
Rudrankksh shot 252.9, maintaining a gap from second-placed Peni (251.7 points). In the first series of five shots — 10.7, 10.8, 10.8, 10.0, 10.9 — Rudrankksh set the tone, scoring 53.2 to grab the lead. Peni was in second place with 52.8. and home shooter Julian Marcelo Gutirrez of Argentina in third position.
The sequence did not change till the end. Rudrankksh carried on with some solid, confident shooting, showing his class. The fact that he shot 10.8s and got three perfect scores of 10.9s showed the quality of his shooting. It was almost as if the 21-year-old was making a statement.
If that was the intent, Rudrankksh has proved a point. The youngster has bounced back from the disappointment of not making it to the Indian team for the Paris Olympics. Being one of the first Indian shooters to book a quota for the Olympics, and that too by becoming a world champion in 2022, it was heart-breaking for him to miss the Olympics. In the four-matches Olympic selection trials, Rudrankksh finished third, behind surprising topper Sandeep Singh and Arjun Babuta. Rudrankksh lost out by a small difference in score. The two-leg selection trials were s organised in Bhopal and Delhi in a month’s time. Rudrankksh wrote to the National Rifle Association of India selection committee to have a relook at the team considering that he has been the most consistent shooter and won major international medals. The selection trials to pick the Olympic team was happening for the first time in India and policy was made immediately after Tokyo.
New targets
In the new Olympic cycle, Rudrankksh has made an encouraging start. The world championships in Zagreb later this year is the target. After becoming only the second Indian air rifle shooter after Abhinav Bindra to win a world title in 2022, he could not compete the next year to defend his title. The reason being NRAI policy of giving other shooters a chance to win Olympic quotas. He will have the opportunity this year in Zagreb to show his mettle.
After the Paris Olympics setback, he is also looking to peak during national selection trials at home so that he doesn’t lose his place in the team. The competition at home is immense and any slip-up at domestic trials might cost a place in the Indian team. He is also looking to balance his workload and not focus on every international competition. The fact that NRAI has decided to test the bench strength and give opportunity to other shooters in the camp in later world cup stages will also come as a breather for top shooters.
“I think it is a good start to the season with a gold medal in the world cup. It’s a nice feeling. It has been a long journey. This was the first world cup after the Olympic Games so I was quite satisfied that I could perform up to my level and bring a gold home,” Rudrankksh,21, said.
“This was the first competition in eight months and a quality field. It gave a good indication about the process I have set in place this year,” Rudrankksh said after the match.
The bigger goal for Rudrankksh is the world championships next year which will open up quota places for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The atmosphere in the arena was buzzing with home fans cheering loudly for Gutierrez who won his first World Cup medal. “That’s the fun part in shooting. The spectators cheering is so much fun. It was good to see one of our fellow shooters being loved so much. Of course it was disturbing but we are trained for such things, said the shooter from Maharashtra who won his second world cup gold after Cairo in 2022.
“As a team we have made a good start to the season. We have a lot of goals ahead, we are training hard and to get such results at the start of the year is encouraging.”
