Rudrankksh Patil will be representing India in men’s 10m air rifle event as well as 50m rifle 3 Positions event at Asian Games 2026.
Published: September 8, 2026, 1:07 PM IST
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Indian shooter Rudrankksh Patil(Source: X)
Asian Games 2026: India will be represented 30-member squad in shooting at the Asian Games 2026 later this month but only one out of them will be competing in two eventsWe are talking about Indian rifle shooter Rudrankksh Patil, who will be representing India in the men’s 10m air rifle event and men’s 50m rifle 3 Positions event at Aichi-Nagoya in Japan.
The 22-year-old will look to replicate the gold medal that he won in the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou as a teenager in the 10m air pistol team event with IndiaIn the men’s 10m air rifle event, Rudrankksh will join Parth Rakesh Mane and Himanshu Dhillon while in the 50m 3P event, he will join Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Niraj Kumar.
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Rudrankksh Patil spoke to India.com exclusively ahead of his departure for Japan for the Asian Games 2026 later this month“So, the preparation for the games has started almost two months back after the selectionAnd this is my first major event where I’m participating in both the events, in the 50 meter rifle and the 10m rifle,” Rudrankksh Patil told India.com in an exclusive interview.
“And of course, I have my coaches over here who are guiding me throughout the process on how to manage it well and how to maintain performance in both the events,” he added.
VIDEO | Rudrankksh Patil, who became the second Indian world champion after Abhinav Bindra in the 10m Air Rifle at the 2022 World Championships, believes the comparison between him and India’s first individual gold medalist was not that unfair because people saw similar potential… pic.twitter.com/RGNxTVzeZQ
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 17, 2026
Rudrankksh missed out on an individual medal as a 19-year-old at Hangzhou, finishing in 4th place in a shoot-out with compatriot Aishwary Pratap Singh TomarBut has since then won gold medal at Asian Shooting Championships in 2024, 2025 and earlier this year in New Delhi (in both individual and team events).
“I had two World Cups to look at in the past to see how I can manageI have roughly good information about how to do itMy coaches and our HPD (High Performance Director) are much more aware of the situation,” Rudrankksh said.
Never felt need to research my opponents: Rudrankksh Patil
He had also secured a Paris Olympics 2024 quota berth after winning a gold medal at the 10m air rifle event at 2022 World Championships in CairoBut he failed to book a berth to the Paris Olympics after holding a quota place for a couple of years.
“So, because it’s an individual sport, I never had the need to research on my opponents or who can be my competitorsAnd honestly, I don’t spend my time researching them during the tournaments at all.
“We all are of the same caliberIt’s just about on the day who is shooting better, who is notAnd it is the more I think about what others are going to do, I am taking out my own focus from my own preparation, which can help me win more medals,” Rudrankksh said about the biggest challenges at Asian Games.
Born in Thane, Rudrankksh was more interested in other sports like football and chess in his early years before a chance arrival at a shooting range near his home.
“It started off as my parents are a bit more sports enthusiasts and they wanted me to try different sportsSo I tried a lot of varieties of sports from swimming to gymnastics to table tennis, tennis, badminton and chess.
“Finally, we landed to shooting because there was a shooting range which had recently inaugurated in our areaIn every summer camp, I used to go for different sports and shooting was one of those sports.
“Over there, I met my first coach, Snehal Papalkar ma’am and she found something in me and she started training me after thatAnd I just continued to walk on the path laid by my coach and my parents, and slowly I rose to success,” Rudrakkansh said on his journey into the sport.
Asked about who are the shooter who have inspired him over the years, Rudrankksh said, “So, from idols, the thing which pops up into my mind is the people who inspire me to strive for better shooting scores or better achievementsSo, it is anyone who is doing well currentlySo, right now, Parth (Rakesh Mane) is doing well, Himanshu (Dhillon) who are doing wellI look up to them because they are currently ranked one and two.
“Sheng Liao has been performing very well from past two, three years, so that inspires me very, very much to you know bring out that performance to maintain that performance to win more medals,” he added.
