From Rented Rifles to Golden Glory: Sakshi Padekar Shines at Khelo India University Games

When Sakshi Padekar first decided to try out shooting as a possible sports career, even renting the guns and buying basic ammunition was a challenge and her parents had to mortgage her mother's jewelry to just get things rolling.

The 22-year-old daughter of a security guard in a manufacturing unit in Pune Maharashtra, has come a long way since then as she clinched the women's 10m Air Rifle individual gold medal with a dominant show in the Khelo India University Games Rajasthan 2025 and also led the Lovely Professional University team to the top of the podium.

What makes this achievement all the more special is that this was Sakshi's first major 10m Air Rifle triumph as she had always focused on 50m Rifle events, which she picked up during her stint with the National Cadet Corps (NCC).

"I knew I had to remain calm to have the perfect shot," she told SAI Media, her voice beaming with emotion after winning the gold medal.

"I just focused on my goal and practiced a lot for this day, and it paid off today."

Hailing from Alephata village, which is two and half hours from Pune, Sakshi's parents moved to Pune in search of better livelihood and better opportunity for their children. Sakshi herself tried her hand at various sports like judo, taekwando before she got hooked to shooting during a NCC camp just after COVID-19 lockdown.

But pursuing the sport professional wasn't easy as getting equipment to train outside the NCC camp was a costly affair.

"

I was driven by my passion and the sacrifices of my parents. They always told me not to quit, no matter what happened. We used to rent rifles, which were worth around Rs 40,000 per month, along with ammunition. It was nearly impossible to afford, but still, my parents managed the amount for about eight months until I caught the eye of the Gagan Narang Sports Foundation, which offered me a lifeline," Sakshi Padekar said.

And the LEAP scholarship through the Foundation changed her career path. She won the 50m Rifle 3-Position gold medal in the Maharashtra State Shooting Championships in 2024 in both the junior and senior category and followed it up with an individual silver in the junior category at the Nationals.

She then went on to represent India in the 2024 Junior World Championships in Peru.

A wrist injury at the start of the year had affected her training but Sakshi was determined to make it count in Jaipur, having just managed to win a team bronze in Guwahati last year.

"That performance in the Khelo India University Games last year gave me the confidence that I can perform at the highest level and that helped me perform in other tournaments. I feel winning a gold medal here is just a start for me and I hope that I can continue to perform well in both 10m Air Rifle and 50m going forward," Sakshi added.