Ten debutants in a shooting squad that has 22 medals to match
Only six of the shooters who won 22 medals at Hangzhou are in the rifle and pistol contingents for Japan. The national rifle coach says the gold count should still improve.
India's shooters go to the Asian Games in Japan with ten debutants in the rifle and pistol squads and only six survivors from the team that won 22 medals at Hangzhou in 2023. National rifle coach Deepali Deshpande says the gold count should nonetheless be better.
That is a substantial claim. The Hangzhou haul — seven gold, nine silver and six bronze — was the first double-digit shooting return for India at an Asian Games in 17 years, and the range was the engine of the country's 100-plus medal total.
What Hangzhou changed
Before 2023, the last edition from which Indian shooters came home with double figures was Doha in 2006, where they won 14. The 2018 Jakarta Games offered only mixed team events in the discipline.
Hangzhou therefore reset the expectation rather than met it. Matching 22 medals is now the benchmark, and a squad with ten first-timers is being asked to do it.
Who is back
Six shooters return from that squad: Rudrankksh Patil, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Ashi Chouksey in rifle, and Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh and Anish Bhanwala in pistol.
Deshpande expects them to carry the team events in particular. "Though our sport is very individual, it matters who stands alongside you as part of the team," she said. "Otherwise, when everyone is as young or new as you, there's a lot of pressure and responsibility on your shoulders."
Who is new
The debutants include the entire men's 10m air pistol team — Kedarling Balakrishna Uchaganve, Aakash Bharadwaj and Kamaljeet — along with two men and two women in air rifle: Parth Mane, Himanshu Dhillon, Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa K Vinod. Niraj Kumar and Tilottama Sen come in for rifle three positions.
The tenth is Suruchi Singh, described as the most exciting young talent currently in Indian pistol shooting. She won gold in the 10m event at the Munich World Cup.
Deshpande draws a distinction between new and untested. "Himanshu, Parth, Vidarsa, they may be new to the Asian Games, but when it comes to their level, they are on a par with everyone," she said. "Our idea to give them exposure in World Cups was to make them shoot in different situations and conditions and help break those barriers."
The women's pistol team
On paper the women's pistol team is the strongest unit India has. Suruchi is joined by Manu Bhaker, a double medallist at the Paris Olympics, and by Esha Singh, described as the country's most in-form shooter.
Esha joined Suruchi on the 10m podium in Munich with a silver, and broke the 25m world record at the same meet. She and Manu will double up in the 25m event alongside Rahi Sarnobat, the 2018 Asian Games gold medallist in that discipline.
"This time, the number of gold should be better," Deshpande said. "We have a strong team overall, especially our pistol women's and 3P men's teams are really very strong."
The two-team experiment
The heavy turnover was not accidental. For the past year and a half, Deshpande said, the federation consciously ran 'A' and 'B' teams to give more shooters exposure at World Cup level.
The returns from that programme this year were mixed by medal count: one in Granada, four in Munich and four in Hangzhou. Three of those nine came in mixed team events. The individual medallists were Suruchi, Esha and Sainyam Vij, all in pistol, with Sonam and Himanshu taking the 10m air rifle mixed bronze in Hangzhou.
Deshpande said the point of those meets was not the medal table. "We were observing everyone, especially the newcomers, on how they handled situations, reacted to international arenas and other such aspects," she said. "I think all that exposure will definitely translate into results at the Asian Games."
The longer plan
The rotation has a horizon beyond Japan. Quota events for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics begin not long after the continental Games, which makes this squad both a medal attempt and a selection exercise.
Deshpande, an Olympian and a former Asian Games medallist herself, has structured the build-up accordingly: expose the new shooters to pressure early, and keep enough experience in the team events to steady them when it arrives.
A double-figure medal count is the first target. Whether the squad can reach 22 again, with ten shooters who have never been to an Asian Games, is the question the range will answer from 19 September.
