Elite Indian Rifle and Pistol Shooters set for Trials test

Rakesh Thapliyal

New Delhi: The Indian domestic Shooting season moves forward from Monday (Jan 19, 2026), when the country’s elite Rifle and Pistol shooters, over 150 of them across eight Olympic events plus the exclusive 50m rifle prone event for men and women, line-up at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range (DKSSR) in the national capital, for the Group A National Selection Trials 1&2, scheduled from Jan 19-25, 2026. Day one will see the two T1 prone finals and the first day of qualification of the men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol (RFP) T1 trial played out respectively.

Incidentally, the men’s RFP has the least number of starters, a dozen of India’s best led by Olympian and world championship silver medalist Anish Bhanwala.

Among other elite shooters who will be seen in action at the hallowed DKSSR will be the likes of reigning world champion Samrat Rana in the men’s 10m air pistol, double Olympic bronze medalist Manu Bhaker and her fellow Paris Olympic bronze medalists Swapnil Kusale in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions (3P) and Sarabjot Singh, also in the men’s air pistol.

Adding to the star value will be former mixed team world champion and individual world championship bronze winner last year Esha Singh in both the women’s pistol events alongside Manu and former 10m air rifle world champion Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil who will also be starting in both the men’s rifle events.

Besides world championship medalists Anjum Moudgil, Mehuli Ghosh and Akhil Sheoran will also be seen in action in the Air Rifle and 3P competitions for women and men.

Also in the mix will be world number two and world cup finals winner Suruchi Phogat, making the women’s air pistol the real showstopper of the trials.

Spicing up the National Trials will be the Group A rookies, young and upcoming young talent who have forced their way through to the elite group with rip-roaring performances in recent times and the likes of Jonathan Gavin Antony in the men’s pistol, Adriyan Karmakar and Mahit Sandhu in the men’s and women’s 3P respectively and Suraj Sharma in the men’s RFP, will look to give the established stars a run for their money.

Among the seasoned renowned shots, Olympian and former Asian Games champion Rahi Sarnobat, will also start in both the women’s pistol events. Also lining up will be the likes of ONGC’s Shweta Singh, an Asian Games bronze medalist, Indian Navy’s Omkar Singh and Gujarat’s Lajja Gauswami, who have been part of India and junior India teams two decades ago and to their huge credit are still in reckoning.

With the 68th National Shooting Championship Competitions (68th NSCC) having concluded in the first week of the new year, top shooters, particularly those who missed out on the nationals on the scores front, will look to make strong comebacks as the international season begins end March, beginning April and the race to make the Indian team hots up.

To make the cut for the first National Squad of 2026, scores of the first two trials are mandatory, adding to the importance of these trials. Top Shooters will like to test themselves in top international competitions early, in order to find out how sharp they are and where they need to improve, ahead of a big second-half of the year which has the Asian Games and the World Championships, the latter the first quota event for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, scheduled.

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