Asian Shooting Championships 2026: World Champion Rana learns to cope with weight of expectation

He might have been competing at an international competition at home for the first time, but World Championships gold medallist Samrat Rana made sure none from his family was in the Karni Singh Shooting Range to watch him compete at the 10m air pistol competition at the Asian Shooting Championships. Not even he says his father, who is his long time coach and who first introduced him to the sport in a homemade range built inside the families rented accommodation in Karnal.

“I absolutely refuse to let them come and watch me. I prefer to come alone,” he’d tell reporters later after finishing with a bronze medal.

You can kind of understand Samrat’s logic. There’s enough pressure on him already without his family watching in the spectators gallery.

Becoming a world champion might sound like a dream prospect for any up-and-coming shooter but for the 21-year-old Rana, it’s come with the weight of expectation that he carries to every competition since he won gold in the 10m pistol competition in Cairo last year.

It’s a result that was a bit of an upset especially since Rana didn’t have the kind of results – not even a national title — that might have marked him out to become India’s first world champion in the event.

But gold at the World Championships trumps any previous results. He’s still coming to terms he says by the fact that he’s already approached for advice. “I’m just 21. It doesn’t feel real to be a world champion at such a young age. It will take me some time to feel it. But already young shooters come to me for advice. I mostly tell them to follow the basics. There’s no need to be too advanced. What’s most important is to find a way to stay calm and keep your mind quiet. The more you do that, the easier it is to perform,” he says.

Rana says he tries to follow the same advice as much as possible. But he admits it’s got harder in recent months. “After winning the World Championships, one thing that I’m facing now is that there’s a lot more pressure to perform,” he says.

READ | Samrat Rana goes from homemade range to top of World Championships podium

That pressure was doubly so at the Asian Championships in Delhi where in a depleted field – China didn’t show up and Korea didn’t send its best team to India — Rana would have gone in as amongst the favourites.

As such a place on the lowest step of the podium at the Karni Singh Shooting Range might seem like an underachievement. But medals aren’t won on reputation and although Rana had topped the qualification round with a score of 582, he will know just how hard he had to fight to finish even with a bronze.

Ahead of the two shots –11 ^th and 12 ^th in the series – that would determine the first elimination in the final of the 10m air pistol competition of the Asian Shooting Championships, Rana was in sixth place with a total of 98.8, 3.3 points behind the leader Valeriy Rakhimzhan of Kazakhstan. He had to visibly take a deep breath to center himself at that moment.

Then later when he had a single shot in which to overcome a 0.6 point gap behind compatriot Shravan Kumar, Samrat would dig deep for a shot of 10.3. His compatriot helped matters by shooting a poor 8.7.

Speaking to reporters later, Samrat would say just how he managed to stay focused even when he was in danger of missing out on the podium. “At these situations, I don’t look at the position every shooter is in. I was just trying to focus on my technique. I was trying to execute every shot with proper technique,” he says.

This, of course, isn’t easy and Rana admits as much. “It’s hard when you are playing at home and you aren’t performing at the best level. At that point all I do is remind myself that I can do well and that I can trust my technique and execute well. At that stage, I’m not thinking about medals,” he says.

But Rana managed to find the shots he needed even on a day he was struggling.

It’s a result that bodes well ahead of an important year in Indian shooting. There are the Asian Games in September followed by the World Championships in November. Rana hopes he’s able to keep his focus when he steps to the range then but he knows it won’t be easy especially with the expectation others have on him.

“Every time I compete, mentally I feel I have a responsibility to win for my country,” he says.  

Published on Feb 04, 2026