Niraj Kumar Tops Qualification With 591 as India Secure 50m Rifle Final Spots

Niraj Kumar dismantled the qualification field in Doha. Firing a blistering 591-29x, the Indian marksman led the pack into the men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions final at the ISSF World Championships 2026.

He did not march into the final alone.

Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar locked down fourth place with 586-27x, giving India two lethal barrels in the medal round. Together with Akhil Sheoran, the duo also engineered a podium finish in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions team competition, bagging bronze with a combined tally of 1751-91x. Czechia took gold with 1754-92x, while Norway pinched silver with 1752-81x. In that team haul, Aishwary spearheaded the Indian charge with 587-33x, while Niraj and Akhil anchored the effort with matching scores of 582-31x and 582-27x.

India had come to hunt. And they were finding the center of the paper with surgical precision.

Golden Sweep in Women's 25m Pistol

Before the riflemen took command of the ranges, India's pistol unit had already seized the spotlight. Esha Singh, Manu Bhaker, and Divya Thadigol Subbaraju combined ruthlessly to storm to the women's 25m pistol team world title.

The trio posted an aggregate score of 1761-68x, blowing away the competition. The Republic of Korea settled for silver with 1748-66x—thirteen points adrift—while Vietnam took bronze on 1745-54x.

Esha wielded a scorching barrel throughout the preliminary rounds, leading India with 590-25x. Manu backed her up with 587-24x, while Divya delivered a steady 584-19x to seal the gold. Both Esha and Manu converted their qualifying form into individual final berths. Yet the individual shootout proved unforgiving. Manu clawed her way to fourth place before crashing out with 27 hits, agonisingly short of a second medal. Esha bowed out early in eighth spot, finishing with 11 hits.

Podiums Across the Firing Range

The medal rush in Doha stretched far beyond the headline events. India’s depth across weapon disciplines emerged as the tournament's prevailing narrative, producing podium finishers on virtually every firing line.

Ravinder Singh, Saurabh Chaudhary, and Amanpreet Singh captured gold in the men's 50m pistol team event with an untouchable exhibition of group discipline. Ravinder doubled his hardware by clutching silver in the individual 50m pistol contest.

Silver came again in the men's 10m air pistol, where Jaypal Malviya held his nerve through high-pressure elimination series to climb onto the podium. In the women's 10m air rifle team competition, the trio of Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar, and Shambhavi Kshirsagar snatched silver, while Niveditha Veloor Nair chipped in with a fighting bronze in the women's 25m standard pistol.

All eyes now lock on the range targets on November 11, when Niraj and Aishwary step into the 50m Rifle 3 Positions final to chase world championship gold.