Last-Minute Decision Pays Off as Kamaljeet and Suruchi Clinch India’s First Shooting Gold

India finally found its breakthrough in the 10m air pistol events at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games as Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet delivered a stunning performance to win the mixed team gold on Friday.

The duo, brought together only at the last minute, dominated the competition and set a new Asian Games record. Their victory was India’s first shooting gold of the Games and the country’s second gold overall, following the women’s cricket team’s triumph.

The medal also brought relief to India’s 10m air pistol contingent, which had struggled to replicate its success from the previous Asian Games. India had won the men’s 10m air pistol team gold as well as gold and silver in the women’s individual event at the last edition, but had been unable to secure a medal in the discipline in Aichi-Nagoya until Friday.

Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker was among those who missed out, finishing outside the medals after making the women’s 10m air pistol final. India also went without a podium finish in the men’s and women’s team events.

With the mixed team event the last remaining chance in the discipline, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) made a late change to Suruchi’s pairing.

Kedarling Balakrishna Uchaganve had initially been selected alongside Suruchi. However, following Thursday’s men’s qualification, Kamaljeet emerged as India’s top performer with 580 points, finishing ninth and missing the individual final by just one point. The NRAI subsequently replaced Kedarling with Kamaljeet.

Kedarling had finished 35th in qualification with 568 points.

The last-minute switch proved decisive.

INDIA DOMINATES THE MEDAL ROUND

Kamaljeet and Suruchi topped the qualification round with 587 points, including 29 inner 10s, to comfortably advance to the medal round.

They opened with 196 points in the first series and followed it with 195 in the second, reaching 391 with 20 shots remaining. Another 196 in the third series took their tally to 587 and secured their place in the final.

The Indian pair then produced an even stronger display in the medal round, finishing with 484.6 points to win by a commanding 6.6-point margin.

South Korea’s Suhyeon Hong and Gaeun Choo claimed silver with 478.0 points, while Iran took bronze with 415.8.

The scale of India’s victory was particularly impressive in a discipline often decided by fractions of a point. The Indian duo also finished just 3.8 points short of the world record.

The gold marked a remarkable turnaround for both shooters. Kamaljeet had narrowly missed the men’s individual final by a single point, while Suruchi finished 26th in women’s qualification and failed to advance.

Neither was originally expected to compete together in the mixed team event. Yet, after the late change in India’s combination, the pair produced their strongest performance of the Games.

Their victory ended India’s wait for a shooting gold on the sixth day of the Asian Games and provided a much-needed boost to the country’s shooting campaign.