Shooter Suruchi Singh Proud to Represent India at Asian Games

New Delhi, August 26: Shooter Suruchi Inder Singh Fogat has been selected to represent India at the Asian Games 2026. However, her journey from Bhiwani, Haryana, to this prestigious platform has not been easy. Suruchi expressed her pride in representing the country on such a grand stage.

Suruchi’s first encounter with shooting at the Guru Dronacharya Shooting Academy in Bhiwani was not driven by a desire for world records. At just 13 years old, she would travel to the academy by local train with her father and brothers, without any sponsorship or recognition. Now, at 20, she has become a junior world record holder, won multiple ISSF World Cup gold medals, and is among the top contenders for a medal at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.

Her journey has been a gradual transformation rather than a sudden rise to fame. Reflecting on her early days in Bhiwani, Suruchi said, “When I started shooting, no one knew me. I was just an ordinary 13-year-old girl without an Indian jersey. Today, wearing that jersey truly makes me proud. It shows how far I’ve come.”

Shooting was not the sport she was destined for; she stumbled upon it by chance and has never looked back. “I am really grateful that I got into shooting. If I had chosen another sport, especially a team game, I might not have reached this point. Shooting has given me the opportunity to become something on my own, and I am happy that it has brought me here.”

To the outside world, shooting may seem easy—just a shooter standing still and aiming. Suruchi emphasizes that the reality is quite different. “People watch shooting and think, ‘What’s so difficult? You just stand and shoot.’ They don’t see what’s going on inside you. When every shot counts, controlling your thoughts, your breath, and your emotions is the real challenge.”

This internal struggle has influenced how she handles days when things do not go as planned. “I don’t just get medals from competitions. If I don’t win, I look for my mistakes. Maybe my technique was off, or I missed something. I find it, learn from it, and come back better. That’s how I improve.”

She credits her continuous progress to the system established by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) for its shooters. “NRAI has given me much more than just opportunities to compete. The coaches and camps have changed how I train, prepare, and understand my sport. Because of that support, I have become a more disciplined athlete.”

For Suruchi, knowing each other well is more important than facilities. “The biggest advantage is that our coaches know us very closely. They see us training, understand our game, and know when something is off. So when we reach a competition, they are not trying to understand us for the first time; they already know what we need.”

Her results clearly reflect that support. Suruchi ended the 2025 season by setting a junior world record at the ISSF World Cup finals in Doha. She maintained her momentum in 2026, winning a mixed team silver medal with Samrat Rana at the Asian Rifle/Pistol Championship in New Delhi. Following that, she achieved a historic ‘one-two finish’ with Esha Singh in the women’s 10-meter air pistol event at the ISSF World Cup in Munich, securing her spot in the World Cup finals in Rome later this year.

As the Asian Games approach, Suruchi deliberately avoids focusing on the scoreboard. “At the Asian Games, I don’t want to think about the outcome. I just want to fight for every shot, give my 100 percent, and leave the range knowing that I gave everything for that medal.”