Rahi Sarnobat was the first-ever Indian woman shooter to win an individual medal at the Asian Games eight years back.
Published: September 9, 2026, 12:41 PM IST
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Indian shooter Rahi Sarnobat.
Asian Games 2026: Veteran shooter Rahi Sarnobat has a special relationship with Asian GamesAround 8 years back in Palembang, Rahi had become the first ever Indian shooter to win an individual gold medal at the Asian Games – coming out on top in the women’s 25m pistol eventBut took a turn for the worst which forced her to miss the next Asian Games in Hangzhou back in 2023.
The 35-year-old from Kolkapur was nearly forced to quit the spot around 4 years back due to a debilitating neuropathic pain syndromeAfter rising to world No1 ranking in 2021, just a year later she woke up one morning unable to move her right legIt was a chronic condition affecting her nerves which ruled her out of shooting for nearly a year.
She began to slowly fight her way back from 2023 as training for even ‘one minute’ used to be painfulRahi Sarnobat is now ready to return to Asian Games 2026 event in the high-profile women’s 25m sport pistol event with double Olympics medallist Manu Bhaker and Esha Singh.
In an exclusive interview to India.com ahead of the Asian Games 2026, Rahi Sarnobat speaks about her second coming and return to a familiar tournament“Actually, I started shooting after my illness in 2020, at the end of 2023, I thinkAnd when I started, it was like almost one minute a day, and which was pretty much unrealistic, to be honest, in terms of that showed me that one minute is nothing,” Rahi Sarnobat told India.com.
“On the other hand, I was thinking about getting back into the teamSo that was pretty unrealistic at that point of time because reality was something different than what I’ve thought,” she added.
Our shooters bring more glory homeIndia congratulates Rahi Sarnobat for the well-deserved Gold in the 25m Air Pistol event at the @asiangames2018pic.twitter.com/LfZoR1dtvh
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 22, 2018
Rahi slowly started to build up her endurance and started to get back to her best last yearShe won a gold medal in the 2025 National Games in Uttarakhand to return to the national shooting squad for Cairo World Championships, Ningbo and Munich World Cups and 2025 Asian ChampionshipsThe Kolhapur shooter went on to win the selection trials in 2026 and helped her rise to third place in the rankings behind only Esha Singh and Manu Bhaker.
“Life and health in general is pretty unpredictableSo, of course, things did not go as per planMany times we had to go back and forth and many times our plan failedWe had to replan and reschedule everythingSo, it took me almost one year to reach up to a few hours of trainingWhereas, as professionals, we spend actually a whole day training,” Rahi Sarnobat revealed about her struggles.
“Even after training a few hours a day, I was unable to live my normal life after that because I used to feel so fatigued and so tired that I used to sleep many hours after that,” she said.
Asian Games feels like second coming for me: Rahi Sarnobat
Rahi is now one of the most senior shooters in the India’s 30-member contingentShe feels that Asian Games is like a ‘second coming’ for her.
“Asian Games feels like a second coming for meFrankly speaking, just to be able to shoot again and to be able to shoot enough that I am back in the India team is actually a big deal for me because a few years back, I couldn’t think about even handling the pistol again,” Rahi said.
Asked to recall her emotions from eight years back when she was at the top of the podium at Asian Games 2018, Rahi Sarnobat said, “It was first gold medal that Indian women won for shootingI did not know that at allOkaySo I was just doing my jobI was just doing what I was trained for, what I was taught to do.
“And that resulted into something like first goal for India shootingBut as I have said earlier as well, that I am in general pretty composed personSo nothing can really overwhelm me,” she added.
