Unwell Rudrankksh wins World Cup gold

World champion Rudrankksh Patil braved exhaustion and fever to confirm his first World Cup individual gold in men’s 10m air rifle event at the ISSF World Cup in Cairo on last week. Rudrankksh, 19, earned a 629 points to place sixth in the eight-man final. In order to get to the gold medal match, he later won the ranking round with a score of 262.
In the final, he didn’t sweat much a he registered a comfortable 16-8 win over Germany’s Maximilian Ulbrich. “I was down with fever and cold and I had exhausted myself during the mixed match earlier. Normally, the individual matches are scheduled first, but it was the opposite here. Nonetheless, it was an experience for me how to utilize my energy well,” Rudrankksh told media.
Rudrankksh is starting to favour the Cairo range as a hunting location. The Thane shooter has five gold medals after winning the World Championships title last year, including two gold medals in mixed events (one each from the WCH and the WC) and three individual medals (1 WCH, 1 WC, 1 WC Finals).
It was the Cairo range that broke Rudrankksh’s heart in his first World Cup participation where he finished 11th. “It looks like I have taken my revenge properly,” the teenager said. “My first time here was disappointing as I couldn’t even make it to the final. But after that I have won all the gold medals here.”