Asian Games gold for India: How shooters Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet were asked to pair up at the last minute
Suruchi Singh was asked to compete with Kamaljeet, who was not her designated partner, as the latter had put up a strong show in the qualification round.
Indian shooters Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet claimed the gold medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team event at the Asian Games 2026, marking a triumphant performance with a score of 484.6 in the final. This victory served as a significant redemption for the duo following their earlier individual event setbacks. Alongside this, the Indian team earned a silver medal in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions team competition, with contributions from Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Rudrankksh Patil, and Niraj Kumar. Notably, Tomar and Niraj also qualified for the individual 3P final, highlighting their strong individual capabilities. The unexpected pairing of Suruchi and Kamaljeet, formed shortly before the event, proved highly successful, demonstrating excellent synergy and ultimately securing India's first medal in the 10m air pistol discipline of the Games.
Indian shooters Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet claimed the gold medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team event at the Asian Games 2026, marking a triumphant performance with a score of 484.6 in the final. This victory served as a significant redemption for the duo following their earlier individual event setbacks. Alongside this, the Indian team earned a silver medal in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions team competition, with contributions from Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Rudrankksh Patil, and Niraj Kumar. Notably, Tomar and Niraj also qualified for the individual 3P final, highlighting their strong individual capabilities. The unexpected pairing of Suruchi and Kamaljeet, formed shortly before the event, proved highly successful, demonstrating excellent synergy and ultimately securing India's first medal in the 10m air pistol discipline of the Games.
Indian shooters Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet claimed the gold medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team event at the Asian Games 2026, marking a triumphant performance with a score of 484.6 in the final. This victory served as a significant redemption for the duo following their earlier individual event setbacks. Alongside this, the Indian team earned a silver medal in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions team competition, with contributions from Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Rudrankksh Patil, and Niraj Kumar. Notably, Tomar and Niraj also qualified for the individual 3P final, highlighting their strong individual capabilities. The unexpected pairing of Suruchi and Kamaljeet, formed shortly before the event, proved highly successful, demonstrating excellent synergy and ultimately securing India's first medal in the 10m air pistol discipline of the Games.
Indian shooters Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet fired their way to the gold medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team event at the Asian Games 2026 on Friday. Later, the trio of Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Rudrankksh Patil, and Niraj Kumar claimed the men's 50m rifle 3 positions team silver after logging 1762. China won the team gold with 1766, while Korea bagged bronze with 1751.
Tomar (589) and Niraj (588) also made the individual final of the 3P event in third and fourth place, respectively. Rudrankksh could not make it as only two shooters from a country can enter individual finals.
Kamaljeet and Suruchi shot a total of 484.6 in the final, in which the top four pairs qualify for the medal round. They were followed by South Korea's Suhyeon Hong and Gaeun Choo (478.0) in second place. The Koreans were 6.6 points behind Kamaljeet and Suruchi, which showed the Indian pair's dominance in the final. Iran bagged bronze in the event with 415.8.
Interestingly, Suruchi and Kamaljeet were not originally paired together. According to reports, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) replaced Suruchi's designated partner with Kamaljeet before the event, as he was India's best shooter in the men's qualification held on Thursday.
Kamaljeet and Suruchi stormed into the final after topping the qualification with a strong performance. After registering a 196 in the opening series, the Indian pair raced to 391 at the end of the second series after scoring 195, placing them within sight of making the finals with just 20 shots remaining. They aggregated another 196 in the third series to take their tally to 587, which included 29 inner 10s.
For India, this was the final chance for a medal in the 10m air pistol events after a disappointing campaign so far. It was a redemption for the duo as well, as they had disappointing outings in their respective individual events earlier in Nagoya.
Kamaljeet finished ninth in the individual qualification, while Suruchi was 26th, with neither making the individual final. India also missed out on medals in both the men's and women's team events.