Aichi-Nagoya, 25 September (H.S.): India’s Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet produced a stellar performance on Friday to win the gold medal in the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team event at the 2026 Asian Games. With this victory, India’s gold-medal tally at the Games rose to two.

The Indian pair scored 484.6 points in the final to clinch the gold and, in the process, set a new Asian record.

South Korea won the silver medal with 478.0 points, while Iran secured the bronze with 415.8 points. Indonesia finished fourth with 349.4 points and was eliminated from medal contention.

Suruchi and Kamaljeet made a brilliant start to the final. The Indian pair scored 103 points in the first series to take the lead. They followed this with 99.4 points in the second series and 101.1 points in the third, maintaining their advantage with a total of 303.5 points.

The Indian pair continued to dominate in the second phase of the final. After scoring 61.2 points in the first series, India’s tally reached 364.7. They then added 60.2 points in the second series to take their total to 424.9, establishing an 8.4-point lead over South Korea.

South Korea attempted a comeback in the final series, but Suruchi and Kamaljeet delivered an outstanding performance under pressure to seal the gold with 484.6 points. India finished 6.6 points ahead of the silver medallists from South Korea. The Indian pair’s score was four points short of the world record.

With this performance, India also claimed the Asian record in the event.

Uzbekistan had previously held the record with a score of 481.3 points, set at the Asian Shooting Championships in New Delhi earlier this year.

Suruchi’s Remarkable Journey

Suruchi Singh, from Jhajjar in Haryana, began shooting at the age of 13. In 2025, she won three consecutive individual ISSF World Cup gold medals in Buenos Aires, Lima and Munich. She also won gold in the mixed team event in Lima.

At the 2025 World Cup Final in Doha, she won gold in the 10m Air Pistol with a junior world record score of 245.1 points. She also secured gold at the Munich World Cup in 2026. At the 2026 Asian Shooting Championships in New Delhi, she won a silver medal in the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team event.

Kamaljeet Also Makes His Mark

Kamaljeet, a native of Sulkha in Haryana’s Rewari district, competes in the 10m Air Pistol and 50m Pistol events. He began shooting in 2019. At the 2023 ISSF Junior World Championships in Changwon, he won gold medals in both the individual and team 50m Pistol events.

At the 2025 ISSF World Championships, he won a silver medal in the 50m Pistol Team event, while at the 2026 Asian Championships, he also secured silver in the individual 50m Pistol event.

With this gold medal, India’s gold-medal tally at the Asian Games has now risen to two. Earlier, the Indian women’s cricket team defeated Sri Lanka by 147 runs to win the gold medal.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar