4 min readJun 22, 2026 01:43 AM IST
First published on: Jun 21, 2026 at 11:07 PM IST
Back in 2021, when Pritam Kendre along with his father Tukaram Kendre watched Neeraj Chopra win the Olympic gold in Tokyo Olympics on TV, Pritam would sit down with his father with a notebook making a list of Olympic sports. The father-son duo would narrow down their choice to shooting. On Sunday, when the 16-year-old won the men’s 10m air rifle title in ISSF World Junior Championships in Suhl, Germany, Kendre Sr was looking at the same list.
“When Neeraj Chopra won the Olympic title, Pritam was motivated to take up sports and sat down with me to make the list of sports and chose shooting. Prior to that, apart from studies, he loved watching cartoons like Shin Chan, Doraemon and Chota Bheem. As he won the world junior title today, I am sure Pritam would once again watch Neeraj’s video of winning the Olympic title and dream about winning an Olympic gold some day,” shares Tukaram Kendre while speaking with The Indian Express.
Kendre Sr, then a car loan executive with a private bank, would enrol Pritam at the London Olympics bronze medallist Gagan Narang’s Gun for Glory Academy in Pune. With the family based in Alandi village outside Pune, Pritam took the 35km journey to the academy on the state transport bus every day.
16-year-old Pritam Kendre after winning the 10m air rifle title in the ISSF World Junior Championships in Suhl, Germany. (Special arrangement)
Last year, Kendre Sr left his job and started working as a consultant and remembers the tough phase. “When I got Pritam enrolled at the GFG academy, my earnings were around Rs 25,000 per month. I would pay 15,000 for his training and it was tough times. Later he got the scholarships from the academy. He would spend more than three hours on the bus during the travel from our village to the academy but never complained,” says Kendre Sr.
The youngster would train under coach Shubham Patil at the academy and would win the junior and youth titles in last year’s shooting nationals. Earlier this year, Pritam shot a score of 632.2 in the trials and coach Shubham Patil remembers the youngster’s early days in shooting. “Pritam had the natural ability of focusing well. He started with a junior model rifle but as he gained height, we had to make him shoot with a larger rifle. We worked on the starting approach as well, sight focus and the adjustments every few months due to his increase in height. We have also been working on his breathing patterns,” shares Patil.
On Sunday, Patil had finished fifth in qualification with another Indian Piyush Sharma finishing third to qualify for the eight-shooter final. In the final, Kendre was placed sixth with Sharma in lead after the second series before Kendre rose on the leaderboard. While Sharma exited at the fourth spot, Kendre held his nerve to edge out neutral shooter Timofei Aleinikov for the title. The youngster shot 15 scores of 10.5 or above in the final including two 10.9 and two 10.8.
“Pritam kept his composure well in the final and shot consistently in high pressure situations in the final. It was only his second international competition but he did not show any pressure. He had the belief that he can make a comeback and he showed that with his high scores in the elimination series,” said national coach Veerpal Kaur.
On Sunday, when 16-year-old Pritam won the men’s 10m air rifle title in ISSF World Junior Championships in Suhl, Germany, Kendre Sr was looking at the same list. (ISSF) 
16-year-old Pritam Kendre after winning the 10m air rifle title in the ISSF World Junior Championships in Suhl, Germany. (Special arrangement)
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