India, China to renew fight for continental supremacy-How to track the 16th Asian Shooting Championship

Khel Today Bureau

New Delhi: As the first shots get ready to be fired at the 16^th Asian Shooting Championship Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun, here’s a run-down on how India’s large 182-strong squad across the senior, junior and youth categories, can be tracked across the 12 competition days, beginning August 18, 2025 and running up to August 29, 2025, at Shymkent, Kazakhstan.

For all latest updates on Indian Shooting follow @officialnrai handles on X & Instagram

The entry code

First let us try and unravel the entry code for the championship. Competitions will be held across individual, team and mixed team formats in all three disciplines and categories.

–       Seniors (Individual)- Five athletes per National Olympic Committee (NOC), three to be registered to compete for medals

–       Juniors (Individual)- Six athletes per NOC, top three qualification ranks to enter final and compete for medals (two athletes to be <=18 yrs till 31^st Dec, 2025)

–       Youth (Individual)- Entries to be managed by Organizing Committee (athletes to be <=18 years till 31^st Dec, 2025)

–       Mixed Team– Two teams per event, only one highest ranked in qualification to compete for medals, two bronze medals to be awarded post two bronze medal matches (Rank 3 v Rank 5 & Rank 4 v Rank 6)

–       Team– One team of three members per event, three individual results to add up for medals

Indian participation

A total of 182 Indian shooters, the championship’s largest contingent, will compete in a total of 58 medals events, including 46 individual events and 12 mixed team events across categories and disciplines. Depending on the number of entries in each event, Indian shooters will also be in line for the team medals in all the 46 individual events.

While most of the contingent will be competing in Olympic events, many will also vie for glory in non-Olympic events like Centre-Fire, Standard and Free Pistol, Prone in Rifle and Double-Trap in the Shotgun discipline.

A continental fight for supremacy

The Asian championship has long been a fight for continental supremacy with China being the one to beat. India have caught up over the years as they have at a global level and the fight for the top spot on the medal tally is likely to be between the two.

Hosts Kazakhstan have the second largest contingent after India with 111 entries, while Korea (70), China (41), Iran (29), Chinese Taipei (24) and Vietnam (20) have also fielded strong sides. Tough competition is also expected from the shooters from the Middle East, particularly in the Shotgun discipline.

India had finished second behind China in the previous Asian Championship in Changwon with a total of 59 medals (21 gold, 22 silver and 16 bronze), while in the 14^th Asian Championship in Doha, India had returned a fourth-place finish.