Rifle shooter Rudrankksh Patil has arrived at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya as one of India's standout performers, having already claimed a team silver and an individual bronze in the 10m Air Rifle events. With the 50m Rifle 3 Positions (3P) event scheduled for Friday, Patil says he is brimming with excitement and intent.

A Double-Medal Campaign So Far

Patil, who was part of the Indian men's rifle team that won gold at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, built on that legacy in Japan by first helping the men's team clinch silver before stepping onto the podium individually with a bronze in the 10m Air Rifle final. The twin-medal outing makes him one of the most decorated Indian shooters at these Games so far.

Notably, Patil had been in gold-medal position for a significant stretch of the individual final before nerves intervened. 'As I was climbing up, knowing that I was in the gold medal position, it was going very well — that started building up a bit of nervousness inside of me. And I think I could have handled it a bit better. But here we are with a bronze, so I'm happy with that also,' he told reporters at a post-event media roundtable.

What Patil Said About the 3P Event

'This is my first time participating in the Games in double events and this is my second year after starting 3P. So, I'm very excited to play it out and I have good coaching, good guidance, good support from all the support staff and the Indian team,' Patil said, describing his mindset heading into Friday's competition.

His coaches, he revealed, have kept the message deliberately simple: trust the process, execute the scores that earned him selection, and avoid fixating on the medal tally. 'Our coaches have said that you have shot a certain score and that led to your selection during the tournament. You don't have to shoot anything extraordinary. You have to just shoot your daily thing, and that is just going to be enough,' he quoted them as saying.

The Nerve Factor and What It Means

Patil's candid admission about nerves in the 10m final offers a revealing window into elite shooting psychology. He acknowledged that a strong opening in the final gave him early confidence — 'I had a strong start, which gave me confidence that today is my day' — but sustained top-ranking pressure in a discipline where fractions of a point separate medals proved challenging. He also pointed to limited competitive finals exposure this year as a contributing factor, noting that training finals helped compensate but could not fully replicate match intensity.

This is the second consecutive Asian Games in which Patil has featured prominently, underlining his emergence as a core member of India's shooting programme since his Hangzhou gold.

What to Watch on Friday

The 50m Rifle 3 Positions event demands versatility — athletes must shoot from kneeling, prone, and standing stances, making it technically distinct from the 10m Air Rifle discipline. For Patil, who is only in his second year competing in 3P at this level, Friday represents both a learning opportunity and a genuine medal shot. Indian shooting fans will be watching closely as he bids to add a third Asian Games medal to what is already a landmark campaign in Aichi-Nagoya.