Asian Games 2026: Shooters add to Indian medal tally but wait for gold continues
It was a friendly fight between Himanshu Dhillon and Rudrankksh Patil after Chinese ace Sheng Lihao sealed the top spot on the podium
India's Himanshu Dhillon and Rudrankksh Patil achieved significant success at the Asian Games 2026, with Dhillon winning a silver and Patil a bronze in the men's 10m air rifle. They further collaborated with Parth Mane to secure a team silver medal. These achievements boosted India's total medal count in shooting to five, consisting of four silvers and one bronze, showcasing strong performances from the Indian contingent in this discipline.
India's Himanshu Dhillon and Rudrankksh Patil achieved significant success at the Asian Games 2026, with Dhillon winning a silver and Patil a bronze in the men's 10m air rifle. They further collaborated with Parth Mane to secure a team silver medal. These achievements boosted India's total medal count in shooting to five, consisting of four silvers and one bronze, showcasing strong performances from the Indian contingent in this discipline.
India's Himanshu Dhillon and Rudrankksh Patil achieved significant success at the Asian Games 2026, with Dhillon winning a silver and Patil a bronze in the men's 10m air rifle. They further collaborated with Parth Mane to secure a team silver medal. These achievements boosted India's total medal count in shooting to five, consisting of four silvers and one bronze, showcasing strong performances from the Indian contingent in this discipline.
India’s Himanshu Dhillon and Rudrankksh Patil produced memorable performances in a gripping shootout to win the individual silver and bronze medals respectively in the men's 10m air rifle at the Asian Games 2026. The duo then combined with teenager Parth Mane to add a team silver as well.
The three medals took India's shooting tally to five — four silver and a bronze.
Himanshu, who celebrated his 21st birthday on Monday, shot 252.4 for silver. Rudrankksh (230.9), who had looked capable of challenging for the top spot after a strong start, finished third. China's Paris Olympics double gold medallist Sheng Lihao won the gold with a meticulous performance.
The individual medals came barely an hour after Himanshu, who is competing in his maiden Asian Games, former world champion Rudrankksh, and 18-year-old Mane had combined for silver in the team event.
China, once again, set the benchmark with 1,899.0 points, while India's 1,890.1 secured silver and South Korea took bronze with 1,884.2.
Rudrankksh had initially looked the likelier Indian to challenge the Chinese star. After the second series, the 2022 world champion had an aggregate of 106.0, leading Sheng by 1.1 points, while Himanshu was on 104.8.
The momentum, however, shifted in the elimination series.
Rudrankksh faltered with a 9.7, while Himanshu responded with a 10.6 to move into second on the 22nd shot in the 24-shot final. The debutant finished 0.1 points ahead of his vastly more experienced teammate.
It was a performance built as much on temperament as on marksmanship.
Rudrankksh finished third in the individual qualification with 631.8 points, Himanshu was seventh with 630.0, while Mane shot 628.3 to finish outside the top eight and narrowly miss the individual final.
"The competition today was a huge learning experience in terms of pressure. I kept following my process and am happy that I was able to contribute to the team medal," Mane, who turns 19 in November, told news agency PTI.