Indian shooters Himanshu Dhillon and Rudrankksh Patil have won silver and bronze medals in men’s 10m air rifle individual event at Asian Games 2026.
Updated: September 21, 2026, 10:50 AM IST
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Indian shooters Himanshu Dhillon (left) and Rudrankksh Patil (right) after men’s 10m air rifle event(Photo: NRAI)
Asian Games 2026: It was double delight for India on second day of shooting events at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya on MondayTeen shooter Himanshu Dhillon and Rudrankksh Patil ensured a double podium finish for the Indian shooting contingent after winning the team silver earlier in the day.
Dhillon finished in second place to bag the silver while former world champion Patil ended up in third place to win bronze in the men’s 10m air rifle eventIt was the first double finish for India in the ongoing Asian Games 2026.
The two individual medals came just over an an hour after India had won silver in the men’s 10m air rifle team eventThe team of Rudrankksh, Dhillon and Parth Mane combined for a team total of 1890.1 to finish second behind China.
SILVER & BRONZE FOR INDIA!
India bags two more medals in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle individual event at the Asian Games!
Himanshu Dhillon — 252.4
Rudrankksh Patil — 230.9Himanshu finishes 2nd while Rudrankksh takes 3rd to complete a brilliant Indian double pic.twitter.com/InCEZLgO0z
— Sports India (@SportsIndia3) September 21, 2026
The medal rush began in the morning qualification round, which doubled as the team final decided by aggregate scoresPatil led the Indian charge with a composed 631.8 to finish third overall, Dhillon backed him up with 630.0 for seventh, and Parth Mane added 628.3Together, the trio’s combined 1890.1 secured team silver, behind a world-record 1899.0 from China, and just ahead of South Korea’s 1884.2 for bronze.
Patil will be representing India in the men’s 10m air rifle as well as the men’s 50m rifle 3 Positions eventHe was part of the team which has won the gold medal in the men’s 10m air rifle event at the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou.
“So, because it’s an individual sport, I never had the need to research on my opponents or who can be my competitorsAnd honestly, I don’t spend my time researching them during the tournaments at all,” Rudrankksh had told India.com in an exclusive interview earlier this month.
“We all are of the same caliberIt’s just about on the day who is shooting better, who is notAnd it is the more I think about what others are going to do, I am taking out my own focus from my own preparation, which can help me win more medals,” Rudrankksh said about the biggest challenges at Asian Games.
Read more: Shooter Rudrankksh Patil excited for ‘double duty’ at Asian Games 2026 | EXCLUSIVE
With their qualification scores good enough to also rank inside the individual top eight, Patil and Dhillon returned to the line for the final. Both marksmen held their nerve through the progressive-elimination formatRudrankksh set the early pace, opening with 52.8 and a superb 53.2 in the second series to move 1.1 points clear, and led with 127.4 after 12 shots ahead of Himanshu (126.6) and Sheng (126.3)China’s Sheng edged ahead after 16 shots (168.8) with the two Indians tied on 168.6, before Himanshu’s late consistency — including a clutch 10.9 — kept him in the fight while Rudrankksh’s costly 9.7 saw him drop out after 22 shots, finishing on 230.9 for bronze.
Himanshu then took the contest to the final two-man shoot-off against Sheng – both closed with 10.6s, but Sheng completed his round on 233.0 for gold while Himanshu settled for silver with 231.0.
The result takes India’s shooting tally at these Games to three medals, following an earlier silver in the women’s 10m air rifle team event, with all three coming from the same discipline.
Football’s loss was shooting’s gain with Rudrankksh Patil
Born in Thane, Rudrankksh had shown interest in football and chess in his early years before arriving at a shooting range near his home.
“It started off as my parents are a bit more sports enthusiasts and they wanted me to try different sportsSo I tried a lot of varieties of sports from swimming to gymnastics to table tennis, tennis, badminton and chessFinally, we landed to shooting because there was a shooting range which had recently inaugurated in our areaIn every summer camp, I used to go for different sports and shooting was one of those sports.
“Over there, I met my first coach, Snehal Papalkar ma’am and she found something in me and she started training me after thatAnd I just continued to walk on the path laid by my coach and my parents, and slowly I rose to success,” Rudrakkansh said on his journey into the sport.
Rudrankksh can now ensure a third medal for himself when he competes in the 50m rifle 3P event later in the Asian Games.
