How Actor Nana Patekar Quietly Backed Indian Shooting Stars
· Sports · Indian Express, BBC News, New York Times
Veteran actor Nana Patekar, who passed away at the age of 75, maintained a lifelong and lesser-known dedication to supporting Indian shooting sports. Former India shooter Anjali Bhagwat recalled how Patekar stepped in during the 1990s to sponsor her personal weapon and imported kit when athletes were forced to share equipment due to a lack of funding. Patekar's financial backing extended to several other top shooters, including current rifle coaches Deepali Deshpande and Suma Shirur. Beyond sponsoring athletes, Patekar eventually took up the sport himself, competing in Big Bore events and winning national silver and bronze medals in the 2000s. The exact scale of his financial contributions to Indian shooting remains unquantified.
Why it matters
Patekar's early financial intervention helped remove critical resource bottlenecks for pioneering Indian shooters at a time when institutional funding for the sport was scarce.
Read the original report — Indian Express
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