India’s shooters returned empty-handed from the men’s 10m air pistol competition at the Asian Games 2026 on Thursday, with the team finishing fourth and none of its three competitors making the individual final.The Indian trio of Kamaljeet, Aakash Bharadwaj and Kedarling Uchaganve combined for 1727 points in the team event to finish behind China, Indonesia and Japan. China took gold with 1743 points; Indonesia also finished on 1743 but with fewer inner-10s, while Japan claimed bronze with 1730.India finished 13 points behind Japan, ending its medal hopes in the event.Kamaljeet was India’s best performer in the individual qualification, finishing ninth with 580-18x. Bharadwaj was 11th with 579-20x, while Uchaganve finished 35th with 568-15x. With only the top eight advancing to the individual final, all three Indians were eliminated.Asian Games Full Coverage|Schedule|Medal TallyThe result came a day after India’s women’s 10m air pistol team also missed out on a medal. Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh and Suruchi Singh Phogat finished fourth in the team event.Bhaker did make the women’s individual final after qualifying third, but the Olympic medallist could not convert that opportunity into a medal. She finished fifth, while Esha and Suruchi failed to qualify for the eight-shooter final. Esha finished 16th in qualification and Suruchi was 26th.The consecutive results mean India have drawn a blank in both the men’s and women’s 10m air pistol competitions – in both the team and individual medal events.That has come despite India’s decent shooting campaign in Aichi-Nagoya so far. Indian shooters have won seven medals so far – four silver and three bronze.The campaign began with Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod winning silver in the women’s 10m air rifle team event, followed by Elavenil’s individual silver. India then added silver through the men’s 10m air rifle team, with Rudrankksh Patil and Himanshu Dhillon also winning individual silver and bronze, respectively.India’s shooting haul grew further on Wednesday when the women’s and men’s skeet teams won bronze medals. Raiza Dhillon, Parinaaz Dhaliwal and Maheshwari Chauhan led the women’s team, while Anantjeet Singh Naruka, Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Bhavtegh Singh Gill led the men’s team, as theyclaimed bronze medals in their respective team events.At the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, India had won 22 shooting medals, including seven gold, nine silver and six bronze.
