From school competitions to Asian Games podium: Sonam Maskar’s journey to silver

Mumbai: It is said that a child’s early traits shape the adult they become, and for rifle shooter Sonam Maskar, that potential became visible soon after she took part in school-level competitions and joined a rifle-shooting academy in the extended suburbs of Mumbai.

Sonam’s father, Uttam Maskar, who is a master in sociology, recalls that the family initially had little idea that rifle shooting would become his daughter’s career.”We have three children — two daughters and a son — and initially all of them were interested in chess. However, Sonam started drifting away from chess and developed interest in other sports. At school, she participated in several major sports but had a particular liking for rifle shooting,” Uttam said.

To test her aptitude, the family searched for shooting academies in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai and found a well-established academy in Panvel.”We went to Panvel, where competitions in different air-rifle categories were being held. Sonam was one of the participants. The academy told us that they would call us and inform us about her performance,” Uttam recalled.

The family left for their home in Mumbai’s western suburbs. But soon after the one-and-a-half-hour journey, they received an unexpected call.”The academy told us that Sonam had performed very well and could participate in a state-level competition in Kolhapur the very next day. We had very little time to travel more than 400 kilometres,” he said. The family left immediately and reached in time.

To their surprise, Sonam finished fourth in her first state-level competition.

Since then, she has participated in 13 international competitions, winning two gold, five silver and one bronze medal, according to her family.

Her biggest achievement came recently when she won the silver medal in the women’s 10-metre air-rifle event at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan, scoring 634.1 points — the highest among Indian shooters in the event.

The journey was not without hurdles. During the Covid pandemic, her practice came to a halt.”Sonam had started showing her talent, but the pandemic stopped her practice. Every day, she would ask us to enrol her in an academy so she could continue,” Uttam said. He eventually found an academy in Kolhapur, nearly 60 km from their home.

Sonam said her interest grew in college. “In my college, there were four major sports — archery, boxing, judo and rifle shooting. I was not interested in boxing or judo, so I initially enrolled in archery. But I could not sustain it and eventually moved to rifle shooting,” she said.”I won a medal in district-level competitions. I continued participating and winning medals every year. Gradually, shooting became my career,” she added.

She credited her parents and sponsors for their support. “My parents sold their land to support me and buy the rifle and other equipment. It was a very difficult decision, but they did not think twice,” Sonam said.