Rudrankksh Patil and Anjum Moudgil to get prize money for President's Cup medals
Rudrankksh Patil, the world champion rifle shooter for India, and Anjum Moudgil, a member of their women's squad, will finally receive the money that was due after they won the coveted President's Cup gold and silver medals, respectively, last year.
A shift in the International Shooting Sport Federation's (ISSF) organisational structure was to blame for the prize money's unpredictability. For winning the President's Cup in Cairo in November of last year, Maharashtra shooter Rudrankksh was to get the largest check of his nascent career: 15,000 euros (about Rs. 13.25 lakhs). Anjum was to receive roughly Rs. 6.25 lakh for taking second place in the women's rifle 3-positions competition.
But after being ousted as the leader of the international shooting organisation ISSF, Vladimir Lisin, a former Russian, failed to honour his financial obligation. Athletes who won gold in the season-ending competition will all get prize money, according to an announcement made by the new ISSF director, Luciano Rossi, on Wednesday.
The President's Cup, which this year provided a total prize pool of 792,000 euros, contains the top 12 competitors in each Olympic shooting event according to the global rankings until 2022. Last year, each discipline offered 66,000 euros in prize money, with 15,000 euros going to the champion.
"Dear athlete, with great pleasure, I inform you that the ISSF has managed to achieve an agreement regarding the payment of the prize money for the President Cup 2022, which is supposed to be executed as promised," said Rossi in a statement on Wednesday.
He continued by saying that he was only able to get the shooters' money after a protracted court struggle. Following the invasion of Ukraine, Lisin faced pressure to resign due to his close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin; nevertheless, as one of Russia's richest people, he was opposed by a number of tiny nations, preventing his resignation. In the end, Rossi won the election last year, defeating him.