India’s first gold medal in shooting at the Asian Games Aichi–Nagoya – 2026, clinched by Kamaljeet and Suruchi Singh, is closely linked to the Indian Army. While Kamaljeet is a Havildar in the Army who had joined the services through the sports quota, Suruchi is the daughter of an Army veteran, Naik Inder Singh.
The duo, both of whom belong to different districts of Haryana, have also created a games record with a score of 484.6 in the finals of the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team event.
“The exceptional duo displayed outstanding precision and composure, bringing immense pride and glory to the nation. A proud moment for Indian shooting and Army sports,” the Indian Army said on Friday while congratulating the duo.
An athlete hailing from the Rewari district of Haryana, Kamaljeet, now 23 years old, switched over to pistol shooting in 2019 after an injury cut short career on the track and field. He had suffered an auto-rickshaw accident in which he had fractured his thigh bone and had spent several weeks recuperating.
The Army trains selected athletes, both serving soldiers and those specially recruited for their sporting talent, under the aegis of the Army Sports Institute (ASI) as part of its Mission Olympics programme in collaboration with the Sports Authority of India. Disciplines such as shooting, archery, wrestling, rowing, fencing and weightlifting have been identified for them.
Shooters are trained at the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) located in Mhow near Indore. It has state-of-the-art infrastructure including 10m, 25m, and 50m ranges for rifle and pistol, alongside a shotgun range for skeet and trap events.
AMU has produced several notable Olympic medalists like Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Vijay Kumar, as well as other prominent shooters like Preeti Rajak, the Army’s first woman Subedar, and Chain Singh.
Suruchi comes from Jhajjar district in Haryana and was born into a family with a strong sporting tradition. Her uncle was a Deaflympics gold medalist. Her father had wanted her to pursue wrestling, but she shifted towards shooting and began her training at the age of 13 at the Guru Dronacharya Shooting Academy in Bhiwani. During the pandemic continued her practice at a makeshift range.
The 19-year-old shooter made her mark as a shooter by winning several medals at the 2022 and 2023 nationals. In 2024, she won seven gold medals at the National Championship in 2024 in Delhi and two more at the National Games in Uttarakhand.
Her international glory came with gold medals at the International Shooting Sport Federation events in Lima, Buenos Aires and Munich. According to reports, she has maintained a personal tradition of always calling up her coach a few minutes before stepping into the arena.
