Shooting sports in India

Shooting sports in India
Shooting sports in India
Governing body	National Rifle Association of India
International competitions
	Olympics; Abhinav Bindra Gold; Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore Silver; Vijay Kumar Silver; Gagan Narang Bronze; Manu Bhaker Bronze Bronze; Swapnil Kusale Bronze; Sarabjot Singh Bronze; Commonwealth Games; Abhinav Bindra Gold; Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore; Gagan Narang; Heena Sidhu; Apurvi Chandela; World Championships; Abhinav Bindra Gold; Gagan Narang; Anjali Bhagwat; Asian Games; Jitu Rai Gold; Saurabh Chaudhary;

Shooting is an important Olympic sport in India. Of India's 41 Olympic medals, seven have come from shooting, including a gold by Abhinav Bindra in the 2008 Olympics. Indian shooters who have excelled at international events include Abhinav Bindra, Jaspal Rana, Jitu Rai, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Vijay Kumar, Gagan Narang, Apurvi Chandela, Ronjan Sodhi, Anjali Bhagwat, Heena Sidhu, Shreyasi Singh, Manu Bhaker, Avani Lekhara, Mona Agarwal, Anisa Sayyed, Rahi Sarnobat, Anantjeet Singh Naruka, and Saurabh Chaudhary. Indian shooter Shimon Sharif is a well known shooting expert.

History

Shooting sports have a varied history in India. Initially they were played by royal people of British India for amusement and recreation. The highest governing body of shooting sports in India is National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), which was established on 17 April 1951. From then on India achieved some success in the Olympic games by winning a Gold. But largely this sport is not affordable to command Indians because of a lack of shooting ranges and facilities in the country.^[1]

2012 Olympics

The Indian shooting contingent for the 2012 London was one of the largest to date. There were a total of 11 shooters including 4 female shooters. India's first medal in the 2012 Olympics was when Gagan Narang won the bronze in the 10m Air Rifle event.^[2] This was the same event in which Abhinav Bindra won India's first individual gold medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics Beijing. The second medal came from the unheralded army man Vijay Kumar when he won the silver in the 25m rapid fire pistol event after finishing 4th in the qualification rounds.^[3] He had to fend off some tough competition from the third placed Chinese Ding Feng.

A notable performance was made by Joydeep Karmakar who finished 4th in the 50m rifle prone event. A strong medal prospect Ronjan Sodhi who is an Asian Games gold medallist, however crashed out in the qualification rounds of the Double trap event.^[4]

Olympic Games

Games	Event	Name	Medal
2004 Athens	Men's Double Trap	Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore	Silver
2008 Beijing	Men's 10m Air Rifle	Abhinav Bindra	Gold
2012 London	Men's 10m Air Rifle	Gagan Narang	Bronze
2012 London	Men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol	Vijay Kumar	Silver
2024 France	Women's 10m Air Pistol	Manu Bhaker	Bronze
2024 France	Mixed 10m Air Pistol Team	Manu Bhaker Sarabjot Singh	Bronze
2024 France	Men's 50m Rifle Three Positions	Swapnil Kusale	Bronze

Medal table

Tournament	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Olympic Games	1	2	4	7
World Championships	13	12	15	40
World Cup Final	9	5	3	17
World Cup	54	43	43	140
Asian Games	16	30	34	80
Commonwealth Games	63	44	28	135
Total	156	136	127	419

Updated till 5th August, 2024

Notable non-medals performances at Olympics

Year	Event	Player	Result
2000
2000	Women's 10 metre air rifle	Anjali Bhagwat	8th
2004
	Men's 10 metre air rifle	Abhinav Bindra	7th
	Women's 10 metre air rifle	Suma Shirur	8th
2012
2012	Men's 50 metre rifle prone	Joydeep Karmakar	4th
2016
	Men's 10 metre air rifle	Abhinav Bindra	4th
	Men's 10 metre air pistol	Jitu Rai	8th
2020
2020	Men's 10 metre air pistol	Saurabh Chaudhary	7th
2024
	Men's 10 metre air rifle	Arjun Babuta	4th
	Women's 25 metre pistol	Manu Bhaker	4th
	Mixed skeet team	Anantjeet Singh Naruka Maheshwari Chauhan	4th
	Women's 10 metre air rifle	Ramita Jindal	7th

Administration

The sport is administered in India by The National Rifle Association of India. The association organises the following tournaments every year:

National Shooting Championship Competitions (NSCC)
All India G.V. Mavlankar Shooting Championship (AIGVMSC)
Sardar Sajjan Singh Sethi Memorial Masters Shooting Championship
Kumar Surendra Singh Memorial Shooting Championship
All India Kumar Surendra Singh Memorial Inter School Shooting Championship

References

^ New Delhi, Rifle association of India. "NRAI : History". Retrieved 11 August 2021.
^ "Narang wins bronze". Indian Express. 30 July 2012.
^ "Vijay Kumar wins silver". Hindustan Times. 3 August 2012. Archived from the original on 6 August 2012.
^ "Sodhi crashes out". The Hindu. 2 August 2012.