Asian Games 2026: India miss 10m pistol medal; Anantjeet-Parinaaz reach skeet final
Synopsis
India came agonisingly close in the men's 10m air pistol team event at Asian Games 2026, losing bronze to Japan by an identical score on the inner-10s tiebreaker. But the day's silver lining: Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Parinaaz Dhaliwal — both already skeet team bronze medallists — have punched through to the skeet mixed team final, keeping India's medal count conversation alive.
Key Takeaways
India missed bronze in the men's 10m air pistol team event on 24 September , losing to Japan (1730-53x) by the inner-10s tiebreaker after both teams scored the same aggregate.
Kamaljeet (9th, 580) , Aakash Bhardwaj (11th, 579) , and Kedarling Uchaganve (35th, 568) failed to reach the individual final.
Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Parinaaz Dhaliwal qualified fourth for the skeet mixed team final with a score of 138 ; Qatar leads qualification.
Manu Bhaker finished fifth in the women's 10m air pistol individual final, missing the podium.
India's shooting campaign has yielded multiple silvers and bronzes, including medals for Elavenil Valarivan , Himanshu Dhillon , and Rundrakksh Patil .
India drew a blank in the men's 10m air pistol team event at the Asian Games 2026 in Nagoya on Thursday, 24 September, as the trio of Kamaljeet, Kedarling Balakrishna, and Aakash Bhardwaj narrowly missed the bronze medal. However, the skeet mixed team pair of Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Parinaaz Dhaliwal kept Indian hopes alive by qualifying for the final.
Men's Pistol: A Narrow Miss
The Indian pistol trio posted an aggregate score of 1727 with 53 inner 10s, falling agonisingly short of the bronze medal, which went to Japan with a score of 1730-53x — the tiebreaker being the total number of inner 10s. China and Indonesia both scored 1743, with China taking gold and Indonesia silver, the tie again resolved by inner 10s.
The defeat was particularly cruel given the wafer-thin margins involved. India and Japan were level on inner 10s, making it one of the closest bronze medal contests of the Games in shooting.
Individual Pistol: No Indian in Final
India will have no representative in the men's 10m air pistol individual final. Kamaljeet finished ninth with a score of 580, while Aakash Bhardwaj placed 11th with 579. Kedarling Uchaganve ended a distant 35th with a score of 568, leaving India without a finalist in the pistol discipline.
Skeet Mixed Pair in Final
Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Parinaaz Dhaliwal qualified for the skeet mixed team final after finishing fourth in qualification with a combined score of 138. Qatar topped the qualification round, followed by Korea in second and China in third.
Notably, both athletes arrive in the final on the back of strong team performances. Anantjeet, an Olympian, helped India's men's skeet team claim bronze on Wednesday, while Parinaaz was part of the women's skeet trio that also secured bronze on the same day.
Earlier Heartbreaks and India's Shooting Tally
Wednesday had already delivered mixed fortunes. The women's 10m air pistol team of Esha Singh, Manu Bhaker, and Suruchi Inder Singh narrowly missed the podium in the team final, edged out by Vietnam — the bronze medallists — by just two inner 10s. Shortly after, double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker suffered a podium setback in the women's 10m air pistol individual final, finishing fifth.
India's shooting campaign at Asian Games 2026 has nonetheless produced several highlights. The country opened its shooting account with a silver in the women's 10m air rifle team event through Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar, and Vidarsa Vinod. Elavenil also won an individual silver in the same discipline. On the following day, Himanshu Dhillon and Rundrakksh Patil bagged silver in the men's 10m air rifle team event, with both athletes adding a silver and a bronze respectively in the individual competition.
With the skeet mixed team final still to come, India will look to Anantjeet and Parinaaz to add to what has been a mixed but medal-laden shooting campaign so far.
Point of View
And how India still lacks the consistency in top-8 shootouts that separates medal certainty from medal possibility. Manu Bhaker's fifth-place finish in the individual pistol is perhaps the more telling data point: a double Olympic medallist finishing off the podium at a continental Games suggests either an off cycle or the pressure of expectation. The Anantjeet-Parinaaz pairing, however, arrives at the final in form and confidence — back-to-back team bronzes on the same day is rare, and that momentum is precisely what mixed team finals reward.
NationPress
24 Sept 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did India miss the bronze in the men's 10m air pistol team event at Asian Games 2026?
India's pistol trio of Kamaljeet, Kedarling Balakrishna, and Aakash Bhardwaj scored 1727 with 53 inner 10s, but Japan pipped them to bronze with 1730-53x. The two teams were tied on inner 10s, and Japan's higher aggregate score was the deciding factor.
Who are Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Parinaaz Dhaliwal, and how did they qualify?
Anantjeet Singh Naruka is an Olympian and skeet specialist; Parinaaz Dhaliwal is a skeet shooter who was part of India's bronze-winning women's team on Wednesday. The pair qualified for the Asian Games 2026 skeet mixed team final by finishing fourth in qualification with a combined score of 138.
How did Manu Bhaker perform at Asian Games 2026?
Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker finished fifth in the women's 10m air pistol individual final, missing the podium. She was also part of the women's air pistol team that narrowly lost the bronze to Vietnam by just two inner 10s in the team final.
What medals has India won in shooting at Asian Games 2026 so far?
India's shooting campaign has included a silver in the women's 10m air rifle team (Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar, Vidarsa Vinod), an individual silver for Elavenil, a team silver and individual medals for Himanshu Dhillon and Rundrakksh Patil in men's 10m air rifle, and two skeet team bronzes — men's (including Anantjeet) and women's (including Parinaaz).
Who topped the skeet mixed team qualification at Asian Games 2026?
Qatar topped the skeet mixed team qualification at Asian Games 2026 in Nagoya. Korea finished second and China third, with India's Anantjeet-Parinaaz pair qualifying in fourth place with a score of 138.
