A golden comeback: After missing Paris Olympics, Rudrankksh Patil returns to shooting with World Cup title | Sport-others News

‘Mi parat aalo’ (‘I am back’). These three words captured Rudrankksh Patil’s emotions when he spoke to his father, Balasaheb, moments after winning the gold medal at the ISSF World Cup in Buenos Aires on Sunday.Nine months ago, Patil could not make the Indian shooting team for the Paris Olympics. Despite being one of the better rifle shooters throughout the cycle—he even won the World Championship—Patil finished outside the top two in the cutthroat and unforgiving selection trials.
On Sunday, as the new season in the new Olympic cycle began for the 10m air rifle shooters, the 21-year-old showed he was still the same old shooter—uncomplicated in the head and with an unerring eye.
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With 15 scores of 10.7 or more in the 24-shot road to the gold medal, this was Patil’s way of announcing his comeback. “When Rudrankksh faced the disappointment of missing the spot for the Paris Olympics, me and my wife Hemangini were disappointed due to his dream of winning an Olympic medal being shattered,” the shooter’s father, Balasaheb, said.
With 15 scores of 10.7 or more in the 24-shot road to the gold medal, this was Patil’s way of announcing his comeback. (Special Arrangement)
He added: “But then Rudrankksh has grown in a way that he was to assure that this setback was God’s plan to see him achieve something better and towards his goal. Last night, when he won the gold, he told us ‘Mi parat aalo’ (I am back) and we know that this gold is God’s way of telling him that he has set the ball rolling for him for bigger things.”
High 10s have defined Patil’s game ever since he burst onto the scene in 2022, starting with the world title where each of his 15 shots in the gold medal match was a 10-plus, with the lowest being 10.3.
However, two years after his World Championships glory, Patil suffered from an auto-immune disease caused stress. While he competed in back-to-back tournaments along with domestic trials as well as nationals, Patil would first see the symptoms of the disease two months before the Olympic Trials last year.Story continues below this ad
The Maharashtra shooter experienced a hair fall along with a patch of white skin on his ankle. However, he could not take a break because of the four-stage trials in Delhi and Bhopal.
“All I thought during those two years was to shoot and shoot. And maybe in that phase, I lost my love for the sport and did not enjoy my shooting. But then, the time after the trials helped me see shooting as something I have always enjoyed,” Patil said. “I consulted my psycholog along with physio and coaches Ajit Patil and Neha Chavan to revisit the basics like a kid and also picked up 50m Rifle 3P events. It was just going back to the days when I started shooting and to rediscover myself.”
To challenge himself, Patil dabbled with the 50m rifle 3-position event. However, he struggled to balance his body in one of the most gruelling competitions. Patil shed nearly 14 kilos during this period as he improved his fitness.
His personal coach Ajit Patil said: “For a talent like Rudrankksh, it’s all about finding his rhythm and once he is in rhythm, there is no stopping for him. And during practice, we let him shoot more shots when he is shooting well. That’s what helped us to make him achieve the right groupings along with his well-balanced stance. Once he is stable, he can also shoot 200 shots in practice making those close shot groupings and that’s what helps to create his mindset.”Story continues below this ad
Neha Chavan, also his coach, added that Patil ‘revisited basics’ after the trials and ‘freshened things up’ competing in the rifle 3-P event, which allowed him to once again shoot high scores.
At Buenos Aires, Patil, who changed his rifle from Walther to Feinwerkbau, qualified for the final with a second spot in qualification with a score of 633.7 behind compatriot Arjun Babut, who shot 634.5.
In the final, Patil led the eight-shooter field right from the start. But it was eight scores of 10.5 and above — including two 10.9 and two 10.8 — in the elimination round that saw him clinch his second World Cup gold.

National rifle coach Deepali Deshpande said: “This kind of precision has always been there in Rudraanksh’s shooting since his junior days. He is a shooter, who would always seek advice from everybody and from wherever he can including seeking guidance from Abhinav Bindra’s coach Heinz Reinkemeier. But sometimes, young shooters can become tired from the number of competitions they play and it was just unfortunate for him to miss the spot for Paris. I am glad he has come back strongly.”