Preparations have reached the final stage for the excellent performance of the players of the Indian shooting team in the Asian Games 2026. The last special preparation camp of the Indian shooting team before the Asian Games is starting from today (Saturday) in Bhopal.
Sports and Youth Welfare Department informed that the said training camp will be conducted at Madhya Pradesh State Shooting Academy, Bhopal till 14 September 2026.
After the camp, Indian shooters will represent the country in the Asian Games 2026 and aim for a medal. It was told that a total of 18 athletes will participate in the special preparation camp, which includes 9 male and 9 female shooters.
The men’s category includes Parth Rakesh Mane, Himanshu Dhillon, Rudraksh Balasaheb Patil, Aishwarya Pratap Singh Tomar, Neeraj Kumar, Kedarling Balkrishna Uchagawane, Kamaljeet, Akash Bhardwaj and Anish.
In the women’s category, Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Uttam Maskar, Vidarasa K. Vinod, Aashi Chowksey, Tilottama Sen, Suruchi, Isha Singh, Manu Bhaker and Rahi Sarnobat will take training.
The shooters included in the Indian team have achieved notable achievements at the national and international level. Top shooters like Manu Bhaker, Aishwarya Pratap Singh Tomar and Isha Singh are playing an important role in the team’s preparations.
Manu Bhaker has won two Olympic medals at the Olympic level including bronze medals in 10m Air Pistol Women and 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team.
Aishwarya Pratap Singh Tomar has won medals in various international competitions including ISSF World Championship, World Cup and Asian Championship.
Isha Singh has also made a strong mark at the international level at a young age and has won medals in the World Championship, World Cup, Asian Championship and Asian Games.
The presence of these experienced and talented shooters will give strength to the Indian team in its final preparations before the Asian Games. In the camp, expert coaches of rifle and pistol will train the players.
Foreign coaches Thomas Farnik will handle rifle and Jalena Arunovic pistol. Apart from this, Samaresh Jung is the head coach of 10 meter pistol, Vidya Jadhav is the 10 meter pistol coach, Harpreet Singh is the 25 meter pistol coach.
D.S. Chandel will be with the team as 10m Rifle High Performance Coach, Pooja Ghatkar as 10m Rifle Coach, Manoj Kumar as 50m Rifle Head Coach and Satgurudas as 50m Rifle Coach.
In this last camp organized before the Asian Games, along with the technical preparations of the players, special attention will also be given to their fitness, recovery and mental strength.
The team includes High Performance Director Dr. Pierre Beauchamp, High Performance Manager Raunak Pandit, Physiotherapists Snehil Khurana, Sanchita Mukherjee and Anuj Gupta.
Along with this, Vijendra Pal Singh and Mayank Singh Garia will provide their services to the players as strength and conditioning trainers and Shivam Dwivedi and Akshita Shekhon as sports psychologists.
For the final preparation camp, state-of-the-art facilities of the State Shooting Academy are being provided by the Sports and Youth Welfare Department, Madhya Pradesh.
10 meter, 25 meter and 50 meter shooting ranges, final range and gym facilities for fitness will be available for the training of players.
Having international level shooting ranges and fitness facilities in one complex will help Indian shooters finalize their preparations ahead of the Asian Games.
As part of the preparations for the Asian Games 2026, the special preparation camp of the Indian shooting team was earlier organized in Bhopal from August 14-25, 2026.
During this period, a 36-member team including 18 top shooters took training in the state-of-the-art facilities of Madhya Pradesh State Shooting Academy. Now this camp, to be held from 05 to 14 September just before the Asian Games, is the last preparation camp of the team.
In this, players will finalize their technique, fitness and mental preparation before the competition. After the camp ends on September 14, Indian shooters will head straight into competition with the aim of winning a medal for the country at the Asian Games 2026.