Indian shooters to focus on recovery, longer breaks with eye on big medals

With the Asian Championships, Asian Games and the World Championships looming, India's top shooters — divided into two groups — will participate in a maximum of two World Cups

5 min readFeb 3, 2026 10:05 PM IST

FILE PHOTO: Indian shooter Manu Bhaker in action. (PHOTO: AP)

Reigning 10m air pistol World Champion Samrat Rana, current 25m rapid fire pistol silver medallist Anish Bhanwala, Paris Olympic double medallist Manu Bhaker — a crack Indian shooting team will kickstart the Asian Shooting Championships at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range from Wednesday with an intense year of domestic and international competitions in the offing.

The first international tournament of the year has come at a restrained pace for the Indians who can take solace in a tournament that won’t have Chinese shooters, and a curtailed Korean squad – two countries that aren’t just significant challenges at the Asian level but genuine world class shooting squads.

In that Indian shooters have the chance to pick up plenty of medals at the continental level without having to completely push their limits. Shooters from Japan and Kazakhstan offer competition, but overall the Indian squad remains top-tier in the world of shooting, something that should reflect in the medal tally not just at the senior, but at the junior and youth levels of this tournament.

This year will see Indian shooters be part of the Asian Championships, the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya and then the World Championships in Doha with Olympic quotas for the 2028 Los Angeles Games on offer. This is apart from the strenuous domestic trials and competitions that the Indians go through.

“I have kept it a little easy in the initial months,” says Bhanwala outside the 25m pistol range at the Karni Singh Shooting range. “The plan is the same as last year. Last time also, there were two main competitions at the end. This time also, two are at the end. One in September and one in November. It’s a little easy in the beginning,” adds the Haryana shooter.

To ease the constant rush of training camps followed by instant competitions, followed by domestic trials, the Indian team has been branched off into two groups. Each group will only be a part of two World Cups this year and adequate breaks for recovery have been added to the schedule. It has also allowed coaches to develop shooters over 2025 and now over 2026 with continental events and Olympic quotas up for grabs.

National coach Deepali Deshpande said these changes were made to allow shooters enough recovery time.

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“Because of the Asian championships and last year’s general calendar, the Nationals and Trials and this competition there wasn’t enough of a gap. Actually after Nationals, they take a long break. But that couldn’t happen this time,” said Deshpande.

“So we have made some significant changes in our overall training plan that, you know, no shooter will shoot more than two World Cups, so that when they go for Asian Games and World Championship, there will be a total of four international competitions,” added the rifle coach.

Arjun Babuta, a consistently top-level shooter in the 10m air rifle discipline and now an Indian mainstay acknowledges that his technical level is ‘right up there’ but it’s the recovery part that needs to be nailed on, especially considering how he has become the first name on the Indian 10m air rifle sheet over the last few years.

“I’m constantly in touch with our team to know what my requirements are in terms of nutrition or what workouts I need to do. Working on my sleep, especially when travelling, is something that has helped,” says the Paris Olympian.

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“There’s a mental aspect to this, where constant competitions and training can lead to a lack of motivation. The idea is to be consistent not just on the range, but in the processes leading up to it,” adds Babuta.

Churn begins

Just like at the World Championships, the shooting squad continues to expand and new faces in the senior team will be a part of this event as well. Arya Rajesh Borse is in the women’s 10m air rifle squad and Aakriti Dahiya will be a part of the women’s 50m 3 Position event.

Post the Paris Olympics, the desire to blood new shooters into the senior mix has continued with these two names. Earlier at the Worlds in late 2025, Sharvan Kumar had been brought in with the intent to provide him with valuable experience — one where he finished a creditable 12th in an event where India found a World Champion in Samrat Rana.