Calm in adversity: Rudransh Khandelwal wins Para gold the same way he dealt with losing left foot

Indian Express

02-06-2025

On Monday morning, when 17-year-old Rudransh Khandelwal won the title in the men's P1 10m air pistol SH 1, edging out two-time Paralympics medallist Manish Narwal, in the WSPS World Cup in Changwon, South Korea, the first thing the Rajasthan shooter did was call his mother, Vinita. Ten years ago, Rudransh had lost his left foot in a cracker explosion during a wedding in Bharatpur and as the youngster won the gold on Monday, he reiterated to his mother the simple ways in which his kin has supported him.
'Right from the day of the incident, my family and friends have treated me the same way which they used to do prior to the accident. That's the biggest strength one can have,' Rudransh tells The Indian Express from South Korea.
It was in January 2015 that the then seven-year-old Rudransh suffered shrapnel injuries due to the cracker explosion and the following days would see the family spending time going to various hospitals in Jaipur and Delhi for the treatment. 'While we would spend the next days anxiously visiting different hospitals, he would keep his cool. Post the operation, he would spend time watching cartoons at the hospital during his recovery time and would also tell us to be joyful,' recalls mother Vinita, who is a Civics lecturer in Bharatpur.
Post his recovery, the Khandelwals would spend months finding the right prosthetic. The search would end at P&O International, a special prosthetic company in New Delhi. 'My husband and I did not want Rudransh to use a support. We wanted him to believe that he is at par with anybody,' Vinita says.
Within a year of getting the prosthetic, Khandelwal would start shooting at the SBN Shooting Academy under coach Sumit Rathi. 'Kids between the ages of 8-10 would come and train dry shooting with us. In the case of Rudransh, I had to sit and hold the pistol and make him shoot. For the first six months, we did that just to make him understand the precision aspect of shooting. And slowly, I started shooting him in a standing position. Once we were able to find the perfect balancing position, which also required a lot of physical work, we worked on his grip,' the coach recalls.
Khandelwal too remembers the early stages of his career. The Delhi University student remembers one incident which helped him understand one of the early lessons of life. 'During one of the state competitions, my prosthetic leg broke. I along with coach sir had to do jugaad with screws and other stuff to repair it and it was a lesson for me that I have to stand on my own come what may. Sometimes, the nerves in my thigh would swell due to continuous standing as we increased shooting shots from 30 shots to 100 shots but then I knew I had to suffer if I had to pursue my passion, which is shooting,' Rudransh says.
The youngster would first break into the national para shooting team in 2022 and won his first world cup medal in WSPS World Cup in Osijek, Croatia in 2023 with a gold in P4 Mixed 50m Pistol SH 1 Category, where he also created the new world record score of 231.1. He followed up with another gold in the same World Cup with the title in the P1 Men's 10m air pistol SH 1 Event with a new junior world record. He won two silver medals in World Championships in Lima the same year apart from winning two silver medals in 2023 Asian Para Games. 'Rudransh's strength has been competing in both 50m and 10m events and the way he has managed to find a posture suited to his shooting style in both the events,' says national para pistol coach Subhash Rana.
While the youngster had missed the final of the men's 10m air pistol SH 1 by just one spot in Paris Paralympics, the Indian shooter finished seventh in qualification with a score of 564. In the final, Khandewal was placed sixth after the second series. The elimination rounds saw Khandewal climbing from sixth spot to the gold medal position, edging out compatriot Narwal, by 0.3 points for the gold. 'Rudransh maintained his calm while being close to the elimination zone once in the final and the comeback would add to his confidence a lot,' says Jaiprakash Nautiyal, chief coach Indian Para Shooting team.
Nitin Sharma is an Assistant Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Based out of Chandigarh, Nitin works with the print sports desk while also breaking news stories for the online sports team. A Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award recipient for the year 2017 for his story 'Harmans of Moga', Nitin has also been a two-time recipient of the UNFPA-supported Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity for the years 2022 and 2023 respectively.
Nitin mainly covers Olympics sports disciplines with his main interests in shooting, boxing, wrestling, athletics and much more. The last 17 years with The Indian Express has seen him unearthing stories across India from as far as Andaman and Nicobar to the North East. Nitin also covers cricket apart from women's cricket with a keen interest. Nitin has covered events like the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2011 ODI World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup and the 2017 AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships.
An alumnus of School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, from where he completed his Masters in Mass Communications degree, Nitin has been an avid quizzer too. A Guru Nanak Dev University Colour holder, Nitin's interest in quizzing began in the town of Talwara Township, a small town near the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border. When not reporting, Nitin's interests lie in discovering new treks in the mountains or spending time near the river Beas at his hometown. ... Read More