Pipped to the post in 50m 3P gold at Asian Championships, Niraj Kumar targets turnaround

When the two of them had taken their final shots of the men’s 50m three position rifle event at the Asian Championships, Aishwary Pratap Tomar glanced to his right and grinned at Niraj Kumar — the only other shooter on the firing line at Karni Singh Shooting Range. It was the smile of someone who’d just pulled off a heist.

Ahead of that final shot of the competition, Aishwary had been trailing Niraj by 0.2 points. But with all to play for, Aishwary fired a 10.7 to Niraj’s 10.3 to take the gold medal by just 0.2 points.

In a high precision sport with such fine margins such as rifle shooting, competitors admit that while they know at the moment of squeezing the trigger when they’ve fired a good shot there’s an element of luck to just where in the inner tens on the target their shell actually lands.

That’s how it was for Niraj as well. He thought he’d done enough when he took his last shot.

“When I fired the shot, I felt I was doing all the right things. I was fully focused, stable and in a good position. The shot left the gun properly and I had my sights on the center of the target when I fired. It was a 10.3 but I still think it was a good shot,” he says.

Despite the finish, when he looks back at the tournament, the 26-year-old says he’s more than satisfied with his performance. The Asian Championships silver is his first individual international medal as a senior shooter. He also had a dominant qualification – his total of 593 – was a career high.

READ | Tomar bags gold as India sweeps the podium in men’s 50m Rifle 3P event

It’s a performance that if anything will cement his place as amongst India’s elite shooters in the 50m 3 position rifle event. It’s a claim though, that Niraj has been increasingly making over the past couple of years.

Improving form

At the start of 2025, he beat 2024 Olympian Aishwary and 2024 Olympic bronze medallist Swapnil Kusale to the gold medal at the National Games. Then at last year’s World Championships he made his way through qualification before finishing fifth in a final where Aishwary finished with a silver.

“I did not shoot badly last year. In the last two years I can see the progress I’ve made as a shooter,” says Niraj.

His journey has been a lot longer though. He fell in love with shooting at an NCC camp while growing up in his home town of Hoshiarpur, Punjab. And while he’s had his fair share of struggles in pursuing the sport while often lacking the financial resources to, Niraj, who has been part of the Indian Navy since 2018 has since become one of India’s top shooters in the three positions event.

But while he’s been competitive, Niraj still finds himself having to prove himself. At the start of last year, he was removed from the Target Olympic podium scheme (TOPS). It’s a decision he says hasn’t helped. “Because of the lack of government support, I’m still struggling a little bit. If we are part of the TOP Scheme, we face fewer issues in training. We usually get ammunition when we need it. We can also get it tested before we get it. If I’m not part of TOPS, it’s a lot more challenging to get the right ammunition,” he says.

‘ Need support’

While he’s still shooting high scores, Niraj says he could do even better. “If there is support from the government, one moves forward with double the energy. I’m still shooting high scores but that is despite the challenges and because my mindset is strong. I won’t give up even if I have to work a bit harder,” he says.

Niraj holds out hope that he will be included in the program once again especially after his performance at the Asian Championships. “I did email TOPS before I went to the World Championships. They said that they will review the performances and then we will see. But so far nothing has come yet. I hope that they’ll consider me once again now that I have a medal from the Asian Championships,” he says.

Even if that doesn’t happen immediately, Niraj isn’t planning to lose hope. There are plenty of competitions this year where he hopes to make a mark. “This season is critical for us. We have the Asian Games and the World Championships which is a quota event for the Olympics. My main focus is on those two events,” he says.

The Asian Championships were the first under the new scoring and kit rules of the international federation and although Niraj shot well enough, he knows there will be more variables to overcome. “I expect there will be more challenges in the months ahead especially because of the change in the stiffness of the kit. Right now we are shooting in Delhi where it’s a bit cold so although the jackets have changed, they are still providing some stiffness. But once we get to the summer, the jackets will lose some of their stiffness. That’s when things will get a little more difficult. I know there’s going to be a lot more strain on the back so I’ve already started increasing the intensity of my workouts, ” he says.

None of this will be easy and in a field as competitive as the Indian 50m three position rifle one, Niraj says he’s looking to make the most of every advantage. The Asian medal will be one. “This medal is very important for me. I’ve been preparing for this moment for so long so mentally it’s very satisfying to finally get this achievement. But now I have to reset my mind and start preparing for the next championships,” he says.

And while he has had to be satisfied with silver behind Aishwary this time, he’s hopeful of returning the favour when he can. “I think the more I continue to shoot in these high pressure situations, the better I’ll be in taking these shots when the margin between us is so low,” he says. 

Published on Feb 12, 2026