Ending a three-day wait at the ongoing Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Indian shooters finally struck gold on the morning of Friday, September 25. The mixed team pair of Inder Singh Suruchi and Kamaljeet produced a dominant display in the 10m air pistol mixed team event to capture the country's second gold medal. The triumph arrived at a critical juncture, representing the nation's final opportunity to land a podium finish in this specific pistol category, especially after earlier events yielded unexpected dry spells for an otherwise prolific shooting contingent.
Bouncing Back From Individual Setbacks
Neither shooter had managed to make a mark in the individual qualifiers held earlier. Kamaljeet finished in ninth position, narrowly missing the cut, while Suruchi settled in 26th place, leaving both competitors outside the individual medal rounds. Further compounding the team's frustrations, Indian squads also missed out on podium finishes in the separate men's and women's team events. However, the duo set aside those previous disappointments in the mixed final, combining for an impressive 484.6 points to claim the top spot on the leaderboard and secure the gold medal.
A Steady Fightback During Qualification
Securing a spot in the final demanded poise under pressure. The Indian pair began the preliminary stage with 196 points in their opening series, following it up with 195 points in the second series to reach a subtotal of 391. In their third series, Suruchi and Kamaljeet matched their opening round with another 196 points, taking their aggregate score to 587, an effort bolstered by 29 inner-10s. Under the competition format, only the top four pairs advance to the medal contest, and India held firm to seal qualification.
Kamaljeet's Journey From Track to the Shooting Range
Hailing from Sulkha village in Haryana's Rewari district, Kamaljeet competes actively across both the 10m air pistol and 50m pistol events. His sporting journey did not begin on the firing range; he was originally an athletics competitor before a career-altering injury forced him away from track-and-field events. Transitioning to shooting in 2019, he quickly encountered severe financial constraints.
Meeting coaching fees and travelling for competitive fixtures took a substantial economic toll, pushing him to contemplate quitting the sport entirely. Steadfast encouragement from his parents kept his ambitions alive through those lean years. Intense training over the subsequent two to three seasons eventually propelled him into the junior international limelight. In 2023, he clinched the gold medal in the 50m pistol junior men's competition at the ISSF Junior World Championship in Korea, paving the way for his transition to senior international competition across both 10m and 50m formats.
