Kamaljeet and Suruchi Inder Singh ended the wait for a shooting gold at Asian Games 2026, winning the mixed team 10m air pistol event on Friday.
Published: September 25, 2026, 5:09 PM IST
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Suruchi Inder Singh (left) and Kamaljeet with Asian Games 2026 gold medal(Photo: IANS)
Asian Games 2026: Till 24 hours back, Indian pistol shooter Kamaljeet believed his campaign at Asian Games 2026 was over and he would be returning to India empty handedKamaljeet along with men’s shooter Kedarling Uchaganve and Gaurav had failed to win a medal in the men’s 10m air pistol event – both in individual and team category.
Kamaljeet had ended up in 9th place and missed out on reaching the final by one pointBut a call from national shooting coach Samaresh Jung changed all of that as he was drafted in at the last minute to pair up with Suruchi Inder Singh to represent India in the 10m air pistol mixed team event.
The move to replace Kedarling in the mixed team event with Kamaljeet worked wonders as he teamed up with Suruchi to win India’s first-ever gold medal in the event at the Asian GamesIt was also the first gold medal for the shooting contingent in Asian Games 2026 – a far cry from their rich haul in 2023 in Hangzhou.
“I was feeling like my Asian Games was overI was feeling really disappointed and felt that I would have to go back home to India empty-handedSamaresh sir told me yesterday that I will be competing in the mixed team event in place of Kedar and I felt it was another opportunity for me,” Kamaljeet told India.com during a media interaction from Aichi-Nagoya hours after winning a gold medal on Friday.
For the second time at Aichi-Nagoya, India’s National Anthem rings out, courtesy of Suruchi and Kamaljeet! ✨
Watch the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 on Sony Sports Network TV channels & Sony LIV.#SonySportsNetwork #SonyLIV #AsianGames #AichiNagoya2026… pic.twitter.com/WbmT53SVeh
— Sony Sports Network (@SonySportsNetwk) September 25, 2026
Suruchi, who had also endured disappointment with a star-studded women’s 10m air pistol team featuring two-time Olympics medallist Manu Bhaker and Esha Singh, revealed that it was a tough task to ‘bounce back’“It was a really tough task to bounce back from the disappointment of the individual events because after all shooting is a mental gameBut I believe you can do everything when you have a good support structure.
“We (Kamaljeet and me) were like, ‘we can do it’ and ‘we will do it’Our coach (Samaresh Jung) just said it is past and it is overIf you keep thinking about it, you will mess up future events,” Suruchi told India.com.
Good that I quit wrestling for shooting: Suruchi Inder Singh
The 20-year-old from Jhajjar in Haryana was initially pushed towards hitting the wrestling matBut a freak shoulder injury meant that she got a gun in her hand.
“There is day and night difference between wrestling and shootingI thank God that I am not wrestling anymore as I would have suffered plenty of injuries by now if I had been playing that sport,” Suruchi said with a big smile.
Her teammate Kamaljeet chimed into that by saying, “Also India wouldn’t have won their first-ever mixed team gold medal if Suruchi had taken up wrestling!”
Turned off completely from social media: Kamaljeet
Indian shooting contingent was under massive pressure to live up to the hopes of replicating the success of Asian Games 2023 in HangzhouThree years back they had won a total of 22 medals including an unprecedented 7 gold medals.
The shooter from Rewari revealed that the best way to deal with the pressure was ‘switch off’ from social media“I deleted all my social media apps from my phone and didn’t read anything that was coming in the mediaI just don’t read any comments about us anywhereI only switched my Instagram back on after winning the gold medal in the morning,” Kamaljeet said.
“Burden was definitely there on me as a lot of strong shooters had not been selected for the Asian GamesThey had won a lot of gold medals in 2023I just wanted to replicate their success,” he added.
Suruchi, on the other hand, was much more chilled out after disappointment in individual event“I think in the individual event, it just wasn’t my dayThere could have been some technical deficiency which I couldn’t resolve as wellBut Samaresh sir told me to take it easy, relax and go have lunch at the range,” she said.
With the first gold now finally in the bag, Indian fans will be hoping for a much better show from the likes of Manu Bhaker as she competes in the women’s 25m pistol event.
