In 2020, when the pandemic raged, Uttam Maruti Maskar was forced to shift from Mumbai to his hometown Kolhapur. His milk supply business had taken a hit, and he had to restart his life in his hometown with just a plot and shop.

His daughter Sonam too had to realign her dream to be an ace shooter. She had to find her own rifle and kit, which was quite expensive. A doting father, Uttam sold his precious belongings—25 cent plot and the shop. The sacrifices were worth it.

On Sunday, the 23-year-old shooter (634.1) played her role in fashioning a silver medal in the women’s 10m air rifle team event. In the individual segment, she fell behind and ended up sixth. Nonetheless, several time zones away, her father Uttam’s memories rolled back to the hard times they weathered. “When she joined Vedh Rifle and Pistol Shooting Academy, she trained with the academy’s rifle and kit initially. Later in 2022, I got her a new rifle and kit, costing more than five lakhs. I sold one of my shops and a plot at a much cheaper market price,” he recollects to .

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He considers those as not a sacrifice but responsibility. “We had to sustain the family as well as support her training needs. Whatever I could do for my daughter and family, I did and that was my responsibility. To see her win a medal for India gives us joy and a moment to recall all the sacrifices too,” he added.

Before plunging headlong into shooting, she had played chess at the school level and practised with elder sister Manasi and younger brother Satyajit. “All my three children played chess and Sonam spent her free time playing chess with them,” the father says.

But she opted for shooting at the Tolani College in Andheri after the tenth standard exams. When she took a break to prepare for her twelfth standard exams before the pandemic struck, little did she then know that her trajectory would change. But she barely complained and started training rigorously under Rohit Hawaldar and his wife Radhika Barle Hawaldar at the academy. “There was not a single day when she complained. She only talked about how she is training towards competing in tournaments and winning medals for India,” he recounts.

The progress was steady rather than spectacular. In 2023, Sonam finished seventh in ISSF Junior World Championships in Changwon and fourth in the Asian Championships. The following year, she won her first ISSF World Cup medal, a silver in Cairo. Months later, Sonam hauled silver again in the ISSF World Cup in Delhi.

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The recalibration

Coach Rohit reveals the hard yards she put to improve herself. “When Sonam joined our academy, her score used to be mediocre as she had not trained under a professional coach and in a coaching set-up. Her strength was her technical knowledge,” he tells this masthead.

He immediately started working on her posture. “Tuning her body posture, developing her shoulder muscles as well upper body settlement when shooting, took time. We did dry shooting as well as squat shooting to achieve the result. Once she achieved those, it was easier for us to do advanced training programmes. We used to practice 90-120 shots daily. Her father too supported her a lot,” he says.

On Sunday, Sonam first shot 634.1 in qualification to reach the eight-shooter final. “Her forte is mental strength and a never-say-die attitude. She showed that in the World Cup final in Delhi where she hit a 10.9 at the fag end to make sure that she wins a medal,” he says.

“Today too, she started well in the qualification and maintained her consistency. She did not score below 105 in her last three series to ensure that she finished in top eight and went to the final in good rhythm,” he observes.

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The proud father knows how his daughter will unwind. She would return to the board of 64 pieces. Sonam remembers her scores and her chess matches. Whenever she plays chess with her siblings, she remembers all their past moves. She would play chess or see a chess match and ask her siblings to play when she returns to India,” says Uttam.