Five Days, No Gold: India's Shooting Struggles Deepen At Asian Games

The Indian star shooters are enduring a tough campaign at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya. Five days into the Games, with the Indian contingent competing across various disciplines, the country is still waiting for its first gold medal.

On Thursday, the men's 10m air pistol team, traditionally one of India's stronger disciplines, drew a blank in Aichi-Nagoya. Kamaljeet, Aakash Bhardwaj and Kedarling Uchaganve all missed out on the eight-shooter final, leaving India empty-handed in an event where the country was expected to challenge for a medal.

Kamaljeet came agonisingly close, finishing ninth with a score of 580, just one point short of the qualification mark. Bhardwaj shot 579 to finish 11th, while Kedarling endured a difficult outing, finishing 35th with 568.

India's combined score of 1727 was enough for fourth place, but Japan, who had trailed for much of the competition, seized their opportunity when Kedarling's scores began to dip sharply and moved into the bronze-medal position with 1730.

The men's 10m air pistol qualification offered little comfort for India. Kamaljeet stayed in contention until the closing stages but could not find the extra point needed to break into the final. Bhardwaj, too, remained within touching distance but ultimately missed the cut.

Kedarling's struggles, however, were far more pronounced.

High Performance Director Pierre Beauchamp paced around the stands as Kedarling tried to arrest his slide. The adjustments, however, did little to change the course of his competition. Kedarling continued to fire erratically, with too many nines and too few high scores.

As the competition entered its closing stages, India's hopes of salvaging a team bronze were already hanging by a thread.

Then came an extraordinary twist.

With the team medal positions finely poised, members of the Japanese coaching staff gathered behind Kedarling in the spectator area, watching his final shots and hoping the Indian shooter would drop enough points to allow their team to move into bronze-medal position.

The under-pressure Kedarling faltered.

An eight in his final sequence of 10 shots effectively ended India's hopes and opened the door for Japan. The Japanese coaches left the area visibly pleased, knowing Kedarling's late lapse had helped their team move into medal position.

Japan finished third with 1730, three points ahead of India.

China took team gold with 1743, while Indonesia won silver after also shooting 1743. China prevailed on the inner-10 count, recording 70 shots closer to the centre of the target compared to Indonesia's 57.

At the top of the individual qualification standings, Indonesia's Muhamad Iqbal Raja Prabovo produced one of the day's standout performances, firing an impressive 589. He finished six points clear of China's second-placed shooter, who shot 583.

For India, the numbers told a very different story.

Kedarling left the range in a huff, while the Indian camp was left to absorb another disappointing result.

Beauchamp, who oversees India's data-driven performance analysis, including granular tracking of shooters, video recordings and physiological data, besides sport-science integration, mental regulation and broader system building, declined to analyse the team's performance immediately.

He said he would speak only after the shooting competitions at the Asian Games are over.

"I cannot speak right now. I will only talk after India's competition at the Games are over," he said.