Tejaswini Sawant (born 12 September 1980) is an Indian shooter and Olympian from the Maharashtrian city of

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Kolhapur is one of the most significant cities in South Maharashtra and has been a hub of historical, religious, and cultural a ...

. In 2010 she became World Champion in the 50 metre prone rifle event.

Biography

Tejaswini born to father Ravindra and mother Sunita in Kolhapur. She has two younger sisters Anuradha Pitre and Vijaymala Gavali. Her father Ravindra Sawant was in the Indian Navy. He died in February 2010. She started her practice under the coaching of Jaisingh Kusale in

. She is training under her personal coach Kuheli Gangulee. Tejaswini was also appointed as officer on special duty (OSD) in the sports department. Tejaswini received the Arjuna award on 29 August 2011. Sawant married Sameer Darekar on 11 Feb 2016.

Career

In 2010 in Munich, Sawant became the world champion in the 50m rifle prone event. She earned a quota place for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo after finishing fifth in the 2019 Asian Championships with a score of 1171. Sawant represented India at the 9th South Asian Sports Federation Games in 2004 in

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

where she helped India win gold medal.

2006 Commonwealth Games

She was selected to represent India at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

ahead of

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

gold medallist Anjali Ved Pathak Bhagwat and world record holder Suma Shirur. In 2006, she won gold medals in Women's 10 m Air Rifle singles and Women's 10 m Air Rifle Pairs (with Avneet Kaur Sidhu) events at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

ISSF World Cup and ISSF World Championships

Sawant won a bronze medal in 50 metre rifle three positions at the 2009 ISSF World Cup in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. On 8 August 2010 she became the World Champion in the 50m Rifle Prone event in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. She was the first Indian woman shooter to win a gold medal at the World Championships with a world-record equalling score in the 50 m Rifle Prone event.

2010 Commonwealth Games

In the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

held in Delhi, Sawant won silver in Women's 50 rifle prone singles and bronze in Women's 50 m rifle prone pairs (along with Meena Kumari). She also won silver in Women's 50 m rifle 3 positions event (along with Lajjakumari Goswami) in this competition.

2018 Commonwealth Games

On 12 April 2018, Tejaswini won Silver at Women's 50m Rifle Prone Finals with a cumulative score of 618.9. On 13 April 2018, Tejaswini won gold at the Women's 50m Rifle 3 Position Finals. She set a Games Record (GR) with total points of 457.9.

References

External links