Rudrankksh Patil and Anjum Moudgil yet to receive ISSF President's Cup paychecks
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Due to a change in leadership at the international shooting federation, India's adolescent world champion rifle shooter Rudrankksh Patil is unsure when he would receive the largest check of his young career โ 15,000 euros (about Rs 13.25 lakhs) for winning the coveted President's Cup.
The ISSF President's Cup, which this year provided a total prize pool of 792,000 euros, included the top 12 competitors in each individual Olympic event according to the global rankings for 2022. Prize money for each discipline totalled 66,000 euros, with 15,000 euros going to the champion.
In order to win the top prize, world No. 1 Rudrankksh overcame Italian Danilo Sollazzo in the men's 10m air rifle final of the year-ending ISSF President's Cup 2022 on December 3 in Cairo. The previous Russian leader of the international shooting organisation ISSF, Vladimir Lisin, apparently failed to fulfil his financial obligation after being ousted as the head of the global body, therefore the 19-year-old has not yet gotten the money.
Anjum Moudgil, a different Indian shooter, took second place and earned 7,500 euros in the 50-meter rifle 3 Positions competition. Balasahab Patil, the father of Rudrankksh, told PTI on Friday that the situation is now "uncertain."
"They (ISSF) declared the prize money and now they are delaying it. It is not right but what can we say," said the senior Patil, an IPS officer residing in Thane, Maharashtra. According to reports, the new administration led by Italian Luciano Rossi would make every effort to keep its promise.
"The earlier president of the ISSF (Lisin) was sponsoring the prize money. Then there were the elections and he got replaced. Because of which all the sponsors cancelled the sponsorship. I hope they (ISSF) are able to honour the commitment in a month or two, but for now there is uncertainty," added Patil.
Following the invasion of Ukraine, Lisin was under pressure to resign because of his close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but as one of Russia's richest people, he had the backing of numerous tiny nations, preventing his resignation. In the end, Rossi won the election at the beginning of this month.
Rudrankksh's training, however, is unaffected, the senior Patil stated.
"He has been successful from such a young age because of his temperament. He doesn't leave anything unfinished unless he achieves the highest level. His level of determination is really high. He goes into a trance when he is competing or is in training. When he started out his only goal was to excel in the Olympics. He started in 2016 and turned 19 today. On the day he started training (as a 13-year-old), his only aim is to excel in the Olympics."
Rudrankksh gained notoriety after shooting against the best in a number of internet tournaments run by former international shooter Shimon Sharif during the Covid-enforced lockdown, including reigning Olympic champion William Shaner from the USA.
