Kamaljeet and Suruchi Strike Gold for India After Bold Last-Minute Call

A last-minute change turned into a golden decision for India as Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet joined forces to win the 10m air pistol mixed team gold at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Friday.

The pair, assembled just before the event, produced a commanding display to top the field and set a new Asian Games record. The victory gave India its first shooting gold of the Games and its second gold medal overall, after the women’s cricket team opened the country’s medal tally.

The result was especially significant after a difficult start for India’s 10m air pistol shooters. At the previous Asian Games, India had claimed the men’s 10m air pistol team gold along with gold and silver in the women’s individual event. This time, however, the discipline had remained without a medal until the mixed team competition.

Even Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker could not break India’s drought, missing the podium after reaching the women’s individual final. The men’s and women’s team events also ended without medals.

With the mixed team event the final chance for India in the discipline, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) made a late alteration to the lineup.

Suruchi was initially paired with Kedarling Balakrishna Uchaganve. But Kamaljeet’s performance in Thursday’s men’s qualification prompted a rethink. He finished as India’s leading shooter with 580 points, placing ninth and missing the individual final by just one point.

Kedarling, in contrast, finished 35th with 568 points. The NRAI subsequently brought Kamaljeet into the mixed team pairing with Suruchi.

The gamble paid off almost immediately.

KAMALJEET AND SURUCHI SET THE PACE

The new combination topped qualification with 587 points, registering 29 inner 10s. They began with 196 points in the opening series and added 195 in the second to reach 391, before another 196 took them to 587 and into the medal round.

The final saw the Indian pair pull further away.

They finished on 484.6 points, beating South Korea’s Suhyeon Hong and Gaeun Choo by 6.6 points. The Korean pair settled for silver with 478.0, while Iran secured bronze with 415.8.

The winning margin underlined India’s dominance in an event where even the smallest differences can determine the podium. The Indian shooters also ended just 3.8 points shy of the world record.

For both athletes, the gold was a dramatic response to disappointing individual outings.

Kamaljeet had missed the men’s individual final by just one point, while Suruchi’s 26th-place finish in women’s qualification saw her eliminated before the medal round.

They were not even the original mixed team combination.

But after being paired at the last moment, Kamaljeet and Suruchi produced their best performance of the Games, ending India’s wait for a shooting gold on the sixth day of competition.