Former India shooter Pournima Zanane passes away after two-year battle with cancer

Indian shooter Pournima Zanane has passed away at the age of 42 after prolonged battle with cancer.  An International Shooting Sport Federation-licenced coach, Zanane had been suffering from the dreaded disease for the past two years.  She had represented India at multiple ISSF World Cups, Asian Championships, Commonwealth Championships, among others. Zanane, who was a national record holder in 10m air rifle event, took to coaching and was honoured with the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports award by the Maharashtra government. 

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) sent out a condolence message after she succumbed to the dreaded disease. Ms Pournima Zanane was an Air Rifle shooter and took part in many international competitions as Pournima Gawahne. At a later stage, she started coaching shooters and also coached the Sri Lankan team," the sport's apex body in the country said in a statement. . Deeply shocked and distressed by the news of untimely demise of an old friend Pournima Zanane. She was an international shooter and ISSF coach. Our friendship goes back to junior team days.. But we will meet someday, somewhere again," said veteran shooter Joydeep Karmakar on Twitter.

Deeply shocked and distressed by the news of untimely demise of an old friend Pournima Zanane. She was an international shooter and ISSF coach. Our friendship goes back to Junior team days.. But we will meet someday, somewhere again 😊 pic.twitter.com/nRRNLZsRny

— Joydeep Karmakar OLY (@Joydeep709) June 21, 2020