Safar Champions Ka: Tilottama Sen’s journey from a young shooter to a rising star

Every champion’s journey begins with a dream, but it takes belief, resilience and the right support to turn that dream into reality. For young shooter Tilottama Sen, the journey has been one of steady growth, remarkable performances and learning to handle the demands of elite sport. Today, with the support of Reliance Foundation, she is preparing to take on bigger challenges and set her sights on the Asian Games and World Championships.

Get to know the young shooter behind the scores and medals in the latest episode of Safar Champions Ka. Tilottama opens up about her journey, her father’s role in shaping it and how Reliance Foundation’s support has helped her focus on reaching the next level.

Tilottama’s introduction to sport came almost by chance. Her father, Sujoy Sen, wanted her to spend more time being physically active after noticing that she was spending long hours watching television. Shooting soon emerged as the sport where the family felt she could make a difference.

“What we felt is that this is one of the sports where she can contribute individually,” Sujoy says.

The early years, however, came with their share of challenges. During the COVID period, Tilottama was using an institute gun and was not getting the results she wanted. Seeing her potential, her father made a personal investment to help her get her own weapon.

That support from home has remained an important part of Tilottama’s journey. Her father has continued to push her to believe in what she can achieve, including setting ambitious targets for herself.

One such moment came before the Nationals, when Sujoy encouraged her to aim for a perfect 400 out of 400 at the state level.

“I said okay, I will,” Tilottama recalls.

She went on to shoot 400 out of 400 and set a state record.

For Tilottama, the journey has also been transformed by the support she has received from Reliance Foundation. More than simply easing the pressures surrounding competition, the support has given her access to an ecosystem designed to help her perform at her best.

“After I had Reliance, I felt that there was much less pressure on me. So definitely Reliance Foundation Sports did help me a lot,” she says.

The support around her includes sports science, physiotherapy and nutrition, allowing Tilottama to focus on her preparation while having a dedicated team working on the different aspects of her performance.

“The whole sport science team, the physios, nutritionist, everyone's been working really hard. So I'm really happy to have such a nice team with me,” she adds.

The results have followed. Tilottama enjoyed an impressive Nationals last year, winning over 10 medals, while her father points to the consistent run of international and national success since she joined the Reliance Foundation ecosystem.

“If you see continuously after joining this foundation, she got over seven, eight international medals. Even nationals and other events, there are quite a lot of medals,” Sujoy says.

Yet, for Tilottama, the focus is firmly on what lies ahead. Her sights are set on the biggest challenges of the year.

“Going ahead there's the Asian Games, world championship,” she says.

Those competitions represent the next chapters in a journey that has already taken her from a young girl trying out a sport to an athlete with ambitions of competing at the highest level.

With her father’s unwavering belief and the support of Reliance Foundation’s high performance ecosystem behind her, Tilottama is continuing to find her rhythm, build her confidence and aim higher.

Because every champion has a story. And Tilottama Sen’s Safar Champions Ka is only getting started.