Indian Women’s Pistol is Enjoying a Golden Run in 2025-26

Sejal Kamble won gold in the women’s 10m air pistol event at the 2026 ISSF World Junior Championships held at Suhl, Germany.

Compatriot Himanshi won bronze while Bulgaria’s Maria Atanasova took the silver.

The Women’s AP podium at Suhl could nearly have been an all-India sweep had Vanshika Chaudhary, who led through most of the event, not made an inadvertent error of failing to fire during the 20^th shot.

Both Vanshika and Sejal had won gold and silver respectively in this event at the Junior World Cup in Cairo earlier this year.

The Suhl result continues a golden run Indian female pistol shooters have been enjoying since last year. Indians have consistently won medals at a number of international competitions against world-class opponents.

Indians among the world’s best 

Suruchi Phogat has been at the forefront of the women’s pistol renaissance, alongside Esha Singh. The former won four Women’s 10m AP Golds in her debut World Cup season in 2025 with her qualification scores reading 583, 582, 588 and 586.

Esha, meanwhile, has been consistent in both AP and Women’s 25m Pistol.

Amidst a high-quality field at the Munich World Cup in May this year, Suruchi and Esha (both scoring 578 in qualifications) produced an Indian 1-2 in the AP finals.

Esha (587-19x) additionally won gold in 25m pistol with a world record final score of 43. She had also won an AP gold and 25m Pistol bronze at the Asian Championships in February and a 25m Pistol bronze and AP Mixed silver at the Senior World Championships last year.

Among the second-rung shooters, Sainyam won silver at the ISSF World Cup Finals in December last year.

Simranpreet Kaur Brar won the 25m Pistol Gold in the same competition.

Palak, part of the second-string despite being the reigning Asian Games champion, won gold in the Mixed Team event at the ISSF World Cup in Granada alongside Mukesh Nelavalli against tough Chinese opponents.

Sainyam and Palak, though they did not win individual medals in Granada, scored 582 and 577 respectively in the AP qualifications.

Manu Bhaker, the ‘veteran’ at just 24, can rightly claim to be the catalyst who started it all with her two bronze medals at the Paris Olympics, followed by consistent performances in all competitions she has been part of since then.

Her stunning international debut as a 16-year-old in the 2018 Guadalajara World Cup had set the template which all young Indian shooters have followed. 

Manu, Suruchi, Esha, Sainyam, Palak and now Sejal, Vanshika and Himanshi – these are arguably the best batch of pistol shooters India has produced. The first five have won medals at prestigious tournaments and shot consistently high scores while the juniors have begun their journeys on a confident note.

Indian female pistol shooters in the past decade lagged behind their rifle counterparts. Only one or two names would dominate the selection trials for virtually every World Cup and multi-sport competition.

The medal-winning headlines were dominated by Men’s pistol team led by Jitu Rai, Saurabh Chaudhary and co. A lot of things have changed since the 2024 Olympics and today it is Women’s Pistol which is at the forefront of Indian shooting. It is the female pistol shooters to whom Indian fans look up to for medals, and shooters of other disciplines look up to for inspiration.

A lot of credit must also go to the late Jaspal Rana who was part of the Indian junior coaching set-up since 2012 and who mentored Manu at the 2024 Olympics.

2026 will be an important year for the women’s pistol squad. The Asian Games are scheduled be held in September, followed by the World Championships in November. A number of quota places for the 2028 Olympics will be up for grabs.

If the Indians can maintain their form and momentum, this and the next two years can present a golden opportunity to create sporting history.

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