India eye strong start in Asian Championship pistol events

India’s pistol shooters, led by Samrat Rana, Suruchi Singh, Manu Bhaker and Esha Singh, will aim for medals in the 10m air pistol events on day one of the Asian Championship Rifle/Pistol at Dr Karni Singh Shooting Ranges in Delhi

New Delhi: Pistol shooters will take aim at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Ranges in Delhi, as medals in the 10m air pistol events will be decided on day one of the Asian Championship Rifle/Pistol tomorrow.

Indian shooters led by World Champion Samrat Rana, World Cup Final Champion Suruchi Singh, Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker and Esha Singh will look to give the hosts a strong start in the continental event.

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Four finals will be held on Wednesday, including the senior men’s and women’s events along with the finals of junior and youth men. Suruchi Singh and Samrat Rana will be among the favourites to win gold, while Manu Bhaker and Esha Singh will lead India’s charge in the women’s event.

World number four and silver medallist Ho Ching Shing of Hong Kong lines up as one of the favourites for the women’s 10m air pistol. She has reached the continental final on four occasions, winning silver in 2019.

A dark horse for a medal could be Cheng Yen-Ching of Chinese Taipei, ranked 16th in the world. The 19-year-old finished 25th in her debut World Championship and secured fifth place on her ISSF World Cup debut in Munich. Thu Vinh Trinh of Vietnam, a two-time Asian bronze medallist and two-time Olympic finalist, will also feature.

Current World Champion Samrat Rana will lead the Indian men’s side along with world number two and bronze medallist Varun Tomar and Sharvan Kumar, who finished 12th in the World Championship.

Valeriy Rakhimzhan of Kazakhstan, world number eight and ISSF World Cup silver medallist from Munich, who placed fourth last year in Shymkent, Hsieh Hsiang-Chen of Chinese Taipei and Uzbekistan’s world number 25 Mukhammad Kamalov, who placed ninth at the 2025 World Championship, will be the main competitors for the Indian shooters.

Junior and youth athletes will also be in action tomorrow with Jonathan Gavin Antony, Mukesh Nelavalli, Deaflympics medallist Abhinav Deshwal, Himanshu Rana and Priyanshu Yadav competing in the junior category. Darren K Dawn, Girish Gupta, Abhay Dhama, Mandeep Chauhan, Dhairya Prashar and Hardik Bansal will feature in the youth category.

The hosts have entered the largest squad of 118 athletes, with Kazakhstan fielding the second biggest contingent of 35. Regional powerhouses Korea and Japan have also sent strong squads, while shooters from Chinese Taipei, Vietnam and Hong Kong are expected to put in good performances.