A Dominant Campaign
India closed out the Asian Shooting Championships 2026 in New Delhi atop the overall medal table with 94 medals, comprising 51 gold, 23 silver and 20 bronze, from a field of 311 shooters representing 20 countries. The tally cements India’s status as the region’s dominant shooting nation heading into the second half of an Olympic cycle that will culminate at LA28.
The senior rifle and pistol events alone produced 33 medals for India, 13 gold, 11 silver and nine bronze, with the final day proving especially productive. Amanpreet Singh, a former 25m standard pistol world champion, headlined the closing session with gold in the 25m centre fire pistol, shooting 589-24x across the rapid and precision rounds. His compatriots Gurpreet Singh and Ankur Goel completed a full Indian podium sweep in the same event, a rare feat that underlined the depth India has built in pistol shooting specifically.
Established Stars Deliver
Asian Games 50m rifle 3 positions champion Sift Kaur Samra added another silver to her growing collection, finishing second in the women’s 50m rifle prone with a score of 623.2. Elsewhere across the week, Rudrankksh Patil won gold in the 10m air rifle, Manu Bhaker claimed silver in the 25m pistol with Esha Singh taking bronze in the same event, and Aakriti Dahiya pipped Olympic veteran Anjum Moudgil for silver in the 50m rifle 3 positions. The spread of medalists, from established Olympians to emerging names, was as notable as the overall medal count.
Building Toward LA28
Shooting has been one of India’s most consistent medal sources at recent Olympic Games, and a result of this scale in a home championship serves two purposes for the national federation: rewarding athletes with ranking points and qualification pathways, and giving selectors a clear picture of form heading into the LA28 qualification window. With names like Bhaker, Patil and Samra all featuring prominently, India’s shooting program appears to be entering the next Olympic cycle with both continuity at the top and genuine depth pushing from underneath.
A Statement of Strength
Hosting the championship in New Delhi added extra significance to the result, with home crowds turning out to watch India’s shooters across the full week of competition. A 94-medal haul, topping a 20-country field, gives Indian shooting officials a strong data point to build on as they plan training camps and selection trials for the qualification events still to come before Los Angeles.
Leave a Reply