"It was just like a mini Olympics"- National Games 2025 silver medalist Rudrankksh Patil shares experience of Uttarakhand, advice for youth & more

Rudrankksh Patil made Maharashtra proud by winning two silver medals in shooting events of the ongoing National Games 2025 in Uttarakhand. Patil won a silver medal in the 10m air rifle mixed team with Arya Borse and also finished second in the men's 10m air rifle event.

In an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda after winning two silver medals, Rudrankksh Patil shared his experience of competing at the National Games in Uttarakhand. This is the first time the mega event is happening in Uttarakhand, which is why athletes across the nation were quite excited.

When asked about his experience, Patil said:

"It was organized very well. If I have to say it was just like a mini Olympics for athletes from all over the country, to come here and compete with athletes of their level."

This is the 38th edition of the National Games, and it was Patil's third appearance on the grand stage. Comparing the ongoing event with the previous two editions, Patil added:

"To be honest, the first National Games which I played was in Ahmedabad in 2022. There the accomodation was arranged in Radisson Blue, Hyatt and Courtyard and all the other 5-star hotels. Same in Goa in 2023. I think in Goa, it was arranged in resorts and all, but when we come to Uttarakhand, I think so hotels were well, but of course, I got double occupancy. For other athletes, some got triple occupany."

When asked if he got the time to witness other sports happening at the 2025 National Games, Rudrankksh Patil answered:

"Unfortunately, no. Shooting was in another stadium. I could watch other athletes and see them play, but I could not do that properly because we had our selection trials immediately after that, we had to leave for that."

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"This world is filled with distractions" - Rudrankksh Patil gives interesting advice to upcoming athletes

While Rudrankksh Patil won two silver medals for Maharashtra in the 2025 National Games, he is also a world champion, Asian Games medalist, and former world No. 1 shooter of 2022 and 2023.

Sharing an advice to the upcoming athletes, Patil said:

"I would like to say just believe in your dreams, be consistent, be disciplined. This world is filled with distractions, and it is easier than past many years because you have access to all the information, and because most of the other people are distracted, it is easier for you to come up, but again you have to overcome your own emotions and be much more consistent in what you do, and automatically, results will follow."

Lastly, Patil was asked how India can further improve their performance in the shooting events at Olympics. He opined that the federation was doing a great job and explained how they bring out the best in the athletes.

"For shooters, to be honest, when I see the world rankings and the overall scores, as an athlete, if I have to comment, all the players playing with me, you know, sometimes have an emotional up-phase and sometimes they have an emotional down-phase," Patil said.

"I think the federation is the best one to judge who has that emotional up-phase and down-phase. All the athletes competing with me in India in the Top 4, all of us are, you know, at the same stature, but it's just like we are all going through different parts of our life, and everything is different for everyone."

"That's why they conduct trials and see who has the best emotional state at that time, who has luck, who has the best consistency in their own performance. Seeing those scores, they judge and bring out the best," he added.

Rudrankksh Patil concluded by saying that India's medal tally should go up soon because the scores of India's shooters are better than others in the world.

"Seeing our scores and the world's scores, I'm quite confident that already our scores are much more higher. We can easily win many medals if we continue on the same route," Patil signed off.

The next Olympics will take place in Los Angeles in 2028. It will be interesting to see if Rudrankksh Patil can make it big on the grand stage.