The 16th edition of the Asian Shooting Championships concluded on August 30, 2025, at the Shymkent Shooting Plaza in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, marking a historic milestone for India. The Indian shooting contingent achieved its best-ever performance at the Asian Shooting Championships, securing a total of 99 medals, including an unprecedented 50 gold medals. This achievement propelled India to the top of the medal tally for the first time in the history of the competition.
India's medal haul included 26 silver and 23 bronze medals, demonstrating the depth and breadth of talent within the Indian shooting team. Kazakhstan finished second with 70 medals and 21 gold, while China secured third place with 15 gold and 37 medals overall.
The Indian senior team displayed exceptional performance in the Olympic events across rifle, pistol, and shotgun categories, securing six gold, two silver, and three bronze medals. This placed them second only to China, who won eight gold medals in these events, while Kazakhstan secured one gold. Junior shooters also significantly contributed to India's success, underscoring the promising future of Indian shooting.
Several Indian shooters made notable individual achievements. Elavenil Valarivan secured her second Asian title in the women's air rifle event with an Asian record score. She also partnered with Arjun Babuta to win gold in the mixed team event. Neeru Dhanda clinched India's first-ever Asian championship gold in the women's trap event. Sift Kaur Samra secured her first Asian title in the women's 50 rifle 3-position event, while Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar successfully defended his men's 3P title. Gurpreet Singh won gold in the men's 25m standard pistol, along with a team gold in the same event with Rajkanwar Singh Sandhu and Ankur Goel. Ankur Mittal also won gold in the men's Double Trap event with a world record score of 107.
Other notable performances include Manu Bhaker, who won three bronze medals, including one in the women's 10m air pistol event. Manini Kaushik secured her first individual international medal, winning a bronze in the Women's 50m rifle prone event. Payal Khatri won gold, Naamya Kapoor silver, and Tejaswini bronze in the junior women's 25m pistol event.
The President of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo, expressed his delight at the team's performance, noting the confidence boost from the Paris Olympics and the promising talent of the junior shooters.
The Asian Shooting Championship featured over 100 events across youth, junior, and senior categories. Approximately 748 athletes from 27 countries participated in the event.
