Sonam Maskar sets her sights on Olympic gold after silver-show in ISSF Shooting World Cup

In July 2022, when Uttam Maskar bought his daughter her first air gun in order to give her a real shot at pursuing her shooting career, he did so not really knowing what the future held for her. “She was only starting out her career but her coaches told me that she had talent but she needed her own equipment if she really wanted to make something of herself,” he recalls.

He could hardly have fathomed that a couple of years later, shooting with that same gun – a grey Walther LG 400 that his daughter Sonam would provide a silver lining on an otherwise disappointing day for Indian shooters at the ISSF World Cup finals in New Delhi.

On an otherwise winless day for India, Sonam claimed India’s solitary medal — silver in the women’s 10m air rifle competition.

Competition at a World Cup final is always hard and the 21-year-old Sonam came through a high quality field that included Olympic silver medallist Jihyeon Kyum, Olympic bronze medallist Audrey Goginat and Olympic fifth place finisher Oceanne Muller before finishing behind China’s double Olympic medallist Huang Yuting. Indeed it took a new world record from Yuting (254.5) to keep the Indian off the top step of the podium.

ALSO READ | Indian Olympic medallists opt out, but plenty to compete for at ISSF World Cup finals

In doing so she cemented her claim as one of India’s top prospects in the marquee 10m air rifle category. Over the course of the year, Sonam made her maiden senior India appearance at the Cairo World cup where she went on to win two silver medals – earning the right to compete at the World cup finals. While her performance in the final won her a medal, her qualification round of 632.1 was impressive as well.

While her future is promising now, it was anything but two years ago when Uttam was mulling his decision. His daughter had only been shooting for a few months at that point. The rifle and the rest of her kit cost some five lakh rupees in all.

This wouldn’t have been an expense he would have worried about a few years before. Originally hailing from Pushpnagar village in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district, Uttam had built a successful milk distribution business in Mumbai over the years.

Late start

Sonam– the second of his three children had been raised in Mumbai. It was in Andheri’s Tolani College of Commerce when she enrolled in Junior college that she first got to know about shooting. “I was actually a chess player initially but when I went to junior college in 2018, I found out that my college didn’t have a chess program. They had sports like archery, shooting and boxing though and eventually I chose shooting,” she says.

She enjoyed the sport but wasn’t particularly serious about it. All that changed though after the Covid-19 pandemic. The lockdown that was mandated to stop the spread of the virus ended up all but eliminating Uttam’s milk distribution business. He sold most of the family’s property, their cars and finally moved the family out of Mumbai back to their village.

“I was out of the sport for over a year at that point. Finally in 2021 I decided I wanted to take up shooting once again. It was very frustrating to just sit at home during the lockdown,” says Sonam.

She joined Ved Shooting academy in Kolhapur town – run by Rohit Havaldar and his wife – the former international player Radhika Barale. With the town some 60 kilometers from her village, Sonam says she convinced her father to let her stay in a hostel near the academy. For his part, Uttam was supportive. “I’ve never been someone to tell my children that they cant’ do something. Sonam seemed to be serious about shooting so I agreed to let her stay at the hostel,” he says.

At first Sonam practised using a rifle and kit provided by her academy. Soon though it became apparent that she needed better equipment. “She was someone who I considered a natural shooter,” says Rohit Havaldar. “She was shooting very well even using a gun that was a decade old and wearing the kit belonging to my wife. But I knew that if she had to make it as a proper shooter, she had to use her own equipment,” he says.

Uttam admits he took his time to make his decision. Eventually a couple of months after he learned what Sonam needed, he sold one of his few remaining assets from his business and bought his daughter what she needed. “Eventually I’m working for my children only. So it was the right decision to be made,” says Uttam.

ALSO READ | Indian shooters have developed very fast; will look to learn from them, says Olympic champion Yukun

He may not fully grasp the intricacies of the game or even the brand of rifle he purchased for his daughter. But what matters to him is that it benefited her. The results were immediate – she finished in the top 30 at her first national championships just a few months after starting to use her own kit. That earned her the right to compete in the trials to select the junior team for international competitions which she ended up acing. Results came fast and they needed to . “Sonam started her sport a little late so she only had one year of eligibility remaining in which she could compete as a junior,” says her coach.

Making the most of opportunity

She’d make the opportunity count – competing at the 2023 Junior World Championships and the Asian Junior championships where she finished fourth. However her focus on making the most of her junior career meant that she would eventually miss out on a chance to make the selection trials for the Indian team that would compete at the Paris Olympics. While she did make a late attempt to make the top 6 who would compete amongst each other for a chance to compete in Paris, she eventually fell just 0.3 points short.

It’s a miss that her coach says troubles her. “It bothered her because she knew that she was shooting the same scores in practice which were being shot in the trials. She has all the qualities needed to be a great shooter. What’s most important is that she is naturally able to keep her calm and maintain her technique in very challenging situations. This is a quality that some people are just born with and Sonam is one of them. She knew that with all these gifts and the form she was in, she could have been on the plane to Paris too,” says Havaldar.

While she missed out on a chance at the Paris Games, Sonam believes she has the ability to compete at an Olympics. “This year I shifted from Kolhapur to Delhi (she stays at the SAI hostel at the Karni Singh Shooting Range) because the facilities here are what I need to improve. I have a poster in my hostel room that says Los Angeles 2028 Games gold medallist on it. That’s my target. I would have wanted to compete at the Olympics this year but I’ve only really been shooting for a little over 2 years. I need to keep working hard and things will happen for me,” she says.