After back-to-back successful campaigns in the ISSF World Cup legs in South America and Germany, the Indian shooting contingent is now set to kick off its campaign at the 16th Asian Shooting Championships (ASC), scheduled to take place in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, from August 16 to 30.
For this continental championship, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) is fielding its largest-ever contingent — 182 shooters across rifle, pistol, and shotgun disciplines in both Olympic and non-Olympic events. Among them, 35 senior and 36 junior shooters will travel with government support, while the rest will bear their expenses, following competition entry rules.
The shooters are currently in a preparatory camp at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range in Delhi. National head coach Samaresh Jung spoke about the team’s preparation ahead of their departure.
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“The camp is going well, and the players are in shape. We do have a great pool of young and talented shooters, and we’re focusing on ourselves and not much on the opponents,” said Jung. “We’ll look into it when we get there.”
The first batch of skeet and pistol shooters is set to depart on August 14, with rifle shooters joining on August 17. Non-Olympic event participants will leave on August 24.
In the previous edition of the ASC, held in Changwon, South Korea, India returned with an impressive haul of 19 medals, including six gold, eight silver, and five bronze. With the team riding high on recent World Cup success, coach Jung is optimistic about a stronger showing.
“Hopefully, we’ll win more medals this time. The contingent is in shape, and hopefully things will work out,” he said.
While the team hasn’t yet assessed the training infrastructure at the competition venue, Jung remains confident in the work done at home.
“We haven’t checked on the training facilities there, and when we reach there, we’ll have to plan on the final sessions before the competition starts,” he said. “But the training we’re having here should be enough to do well. It will just be acclimatisation after we reach there.”
One of the standout names heading into the tournament is Suruchi Singh Inder, who recently took the shooting world by storm with consecutive gold medals at the ISSF World Cup. When asked about the potential of other young talents, Jung was positive.
“Yes, the contingent has several talented youngsters, and you all know about Suruchi by now. We have Anmol and Aditya who are doing well and have potential,” he said.
Aditya Malra and Anmol Jain will compete in the men’s air pistol event, alongside experienced shooter and Olympian Saurabh Chaudhary.
Other prominent names in the contingent include Olympic double medallist Manu Bhaker, world champion Rudrankksh Patil, Arjun Babuta, Esha Singh, and Akhil Sheoran, among others.
With a balanced mix of experience and emerging talent, India will look to make a strong statement in Shymkent as they eye a bigger medal tally and valuable preparation ahead of the World Championship in Cairo later in the year, with the Asian Games awaiting in Japan next year.
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