Meghana Sajjanar, competing in her eighth month of pregnancy, wins a special bronze at Asian Championships

Eight months pregnant and still stepping onto the range to win a bronze medal.

Meghna, my friend, watching you do this fills me with so much respect and admiration. You remind us that strength comes in many forms and that courage and heart always find a way.

Powerful women like… pic.twitter.com/rJFXY8mcNk

— Pvsindhu (@Pvsindhu1) February 7, 2026

While she inspired Sindhu with her accomplishment, it was the people around her who made it possible. “It was not easy to stand and shoot, but I was able to manage it with the help of my whole support system besides me, including my coaches and my teammates,” said a visibly exhausted Meghana.

Shooting with a bump

This is second international medal for Meghana in the last six months. The shooter won a bronze medal at the ISSF World Cup in Ningbo, China back in September last year. “Yes, I knew that time also (after winning bronze). I was clear that I have to compete till February and then take a break,” said Meghana.

The pregnancy presented a new challenge for Meghana and she had to find new ways to work her way around it. Due to her changing body shape, for starters, she had to adjust her rifle jacket accordingly.

“I kept altering my trousers and jackets. It’s not easy to adjust every day as we are more adapted to using one jacket for the longest time. It was a slow process, but I managed to do it consistently, taking it one day at a time,” explained Meghana. “With the help of Capapie (the jacket manufacturer), I kept alternating between buttons with some extra materials to give me the stiffness required,” she added further.

While jackets are a big part of any rifle shooter’s life, lifting the heavy rifle and balancing the body in competition are some other major challenges.

“The difficulty has increased since I got pregnant. The balance was tough to achieve because of the changing body weight but eventually I worked on it,” she said. “My teammates have been helpful. They help me with lifting my gear and equipment in training and competition. So, overall, everybody has worked for me to achieve this medal,” said Meghana.

World Class final

Meghana was up against her compatriots in reigning Asian Champion Elavenil Valarivan and youngster Arya Borse as well as multiple World Cup medallist Kwon Eunji of Korea.

In what turned out to be a high-quality eight-shooter final, where Elavenil won gold with a score 252.0, Meghana consistently kept herself in the medal hunt. Starting at the top in the first round, Meghana remained at top after ten shots with a score of 104.1. As the pressure of elimination started mounting with every two shots, Meghana shot well, with six of her next ten shots being higher than 10.5.

While Borse faltered with 9.8 in the fifth elimination relay, Meghana kept her calm with 10.5 and 10.6 to edge the youngster by 0.1 margin and ensure her bronze medal. Once she confirmed her medal, in the sixth elimination relay, she shot a poor 9.6 and finished third behind Elavenil and Japanese shooter Misaki Nobata.

With an individual medal and team medal in her kitty, Meghana will feature in one last competition on Sunday before she goes on a three-month break. She will feature in the 10m mixed air rifle team event with Rudrankksh Patil. When asked if she could feature at the Asian Games, scheduled for August this year, Meghana said, “It is highly unlikely that I would return for that, but we’ll assess the situation at the time and make a decision.”

As Meghana Sajjanar eyes mixed team glory before her break, she proved that female athletes can succeed under such challenging circumstances. As Sindhu wrote, “Powerful women like you don’t just inspire, you make all of us believe a little more. Keep flying and keep inspiring.”

Pritish Raj works with sports team at The Indian Express' and is based out of New Delhi. ... Read More

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