Shooting sports in India

Recreational and competitive level shooting in India

Shooting sports in India

Governing body| National Rifle Association of India

Club competitions

Shooting League of India

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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
Men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol | Vijay Kumar |  Silver
2024 France | Women's 10m Air Pistol | Manu Bhaker |  Bronze
Mixed 10m Air Pistol Team | Manu Bhaker
Sarabjot Singh
Men's 50m Rifle Three Positions | Swapnil Kusale

## Medal table

[edit]

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

## Other performances at Olympics

[edit]

Year | Event | Player | Result

|
|
|

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
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
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

[edit]

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

## ISSF Rankings

[edit]

### Pistol

[edit]

#### Men's 10 meters Air Pistol

[edit]

| Rank | Shooter  | Rating

|
|

11  | Varun Tomar | 2278
=12  | Sarabjot Singh | 2100
20  | Arjun Singh Cheema | 1564
32  | Saurabh Chaudhary | 964
37  | Ravinder Singh | 836
Last updated: 1 August 2025 | Source: ISSF[5]

#### Women's 10 meters Air Pistol

[edit]

| Rank | Shooter  | Rating

|
|

2  | Manu Bhaker | 4608
4  | Suruchi Inder Singh | 4000
28  | Sainyam | 1172
29  | Rhythm Sangwan | 1160
45  | Surbhi Rao | 616
Last updated: 1 August 2025 | Source: ISSF[6]

## See also

[edit]

* Shooting at the Summer Olympics
* List of National Sports Award recipients in shooting

## References

[edit]

1. ^ New Delhi, Rifle association of India. "NRAI : History". Retrieved 11 August 2021.
2. ^ "Narang wins bronze". Indian Express. 30 July 2012.
3. ^ "Vijay Kumar wins silver". Hindustan Times. 3 August 2012. Archived from the original on 6 August 2012.
4. ^ "Sodhi crashes out". The Hindu. 2 August 2012.
5. ^ "World Rankings - Men's 10 meters Air Pistol". ISSF.
6. ^ "World Rankings - Women's 10 meters Air Pistol". ISSF.

## External links

[edit]

* India's 1st website on Shooting Sports – indianshooting.com

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