National Games: Rudrankksh Patil puts gun malfunction aside to win 10m Rifle gold

Ahmedabad: Maharashtra's Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil set aside a gun malfunction early on to bag the Men's 10m Air Rifle gold medal at the ongoing 2022 National Games here.

The 18-year-old defeated two Olympians - Aishwarya Pratap Singh Tomar and Divyansh Panwar, en route to his gold medal run.

"I faced a minor issue with my gun during the sighting shots. I had immediately called for the jury and they helped me out," Rudrankksh said after the win.

The Thane-lad maintained that he never felt the pressure of competing against the big names in the final.

"The first two shots after the malfunctions, I was a bit nervous. But, things soon fell into place," Patil said. "I have been performing well for the past couple of years and so was always confident of putting up a good show," he added.

While usually, athletes competing in such prestigious competitions have their complete focus on winning the event, Patil had his mind on something far more important. Food.

"Main toh soch raha tha ki aaj kidhar khaunga...idhar ya bahar (I was thinking where will I have my lunch today...in the venue or outside)," he chuckled.

World Cup gold medallist Arjun Babuta and Olympian Aishwarya Tomar clinched the silver and bronze medals respectively.