Pritam Kendre, a 16-year-old shooter who took up the sport after watching Neeraj Chopra win Olympic gold in Tokyo, won the men’s 10m air rifle junior world title on Sunday in Suhl, Germany. Kendre’s victory capped a rapid rise that began with a father-son decision in 2021 to pursue an Olympic sport, eventually narrowing their choice to shooting.
Kendre held his nerve in the eight-shooter final to edge neutral shooter Timofei Aleinikov for the title. According to the report, 15 of his 24 shots in the final were 10.5 or above, including two 10.9s and two 10.8s, underlining the consistency that carried him through the elimination phase.
From a Tokyo Olympics moment to a daily Pune commute
Kendre’s father, Tukaram Kendre, recalled how the journey began when they watched Chopra’s Olympic triumph on television. Pritam, motivated by that moment, sat down with his father and a notebook to list Olympic sports before settling on shooting. Tukaram said that, before this shift, his son’s routine largely revolved around studies and watching cartoons such as Shin Chan, Doraemon and Chota Bheem.
With the family based in Alandi village outside Pune, Tukaram enrolled Pritam at Gagan Narang’s Gun for Glory Academy. The commitment was significant: Pritam travelled around 35km to the academy each day by state transport bus, spending more than three hours commuting. Tukaram, who was then a car loan executive with a private bank, described the financial strain of paying for training from a monthly income of around Rs 25,000, including a period when Rs 15,000 went toward coaching. He added that scholarships later eased the burden, and that Pritam never complained about the long travel.
At the academy, Kendre trained under coach Shubham Patil. Patil described Kendre’s early development in terms of focus and adaptation, including a transition from a junior model rifle to a larger rifle as Kendre grew taller. Patil also spoke about working on the shooter’s starting approach, sight focus, periodic adjustments due to changes in height, and breathing patterns.
Kendre’s domestic results had already signalled his promise. The report notes that he won the junior and youth titles at last year’s shooting nationals, and earlier this year shot 632.2 in the trials.
How the final unfolded in Suhl
In Suhl, Kendre came through qualification to reach the final, with another Indian, Piyush Sharma, also making the eight-shooter field. The report states that Kendre was placed sixth in the final with Sharma in the lead after the second series, before Kendre climbed the leaderboard. Sharma later exited in fourth place, while Kendre stayed composed through the elimination series and ultimately finished on top, edging Aleinikov for the title.
National coach Veerpal Kaur credited Kendre’s composure and consistency in high-pressure moments, noting that it was only his second international competition and that he still showed belief in his ability to come back during the final’s decisive stages.
Why Kendre’s title stands out
Kendre’s win in Suhl is notable not only for the result but for the way it was achieved: a steady climb from mid-pack in the early stages of the final to the top, built on repeated high-value shots. With 15 scores of 10.5 or above in 24 final shots, the performance reflected the kind of sustained precision required to close out a title in an elimination-format final.
For Tukaram, the moment also connected back to the family’s starting point in 2021. He said he was looking at the same list of Olympic sports they had made after Chopra’s Tokyo gold, and expressed confidence that his son would revisit that inspiration again—watching Chopra’s winning video and dreaming of an Olympic gold of his own.
