Niraj Kumar clinched his maiden Individual medal at the World Championships with a bronze at the 2026 ISSF Shooting Championships in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday.
He scored 346.5 in the men’s 50m rifle three-position final after 34 shots to secure a bronze and earn India its first rifle quota for the 2028 LA Olympics.
It’s India’s third straight medal in the men’s 50m 3P at the World Championships, after Akhil Sheoran’s bronze in 2023 and Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar’s silver in 2025.
This is India’s second shooting quota for the LA Olympics in this topsy-turvy World Championships campaign, coming after Jaypal Malviya’s air pistol quota.
Niraj had a brilliant outing today, topping the qualification round with a good score of 591 and was the only shooter in the field to cross 590, while all the elite shooters struggled.
He continued his form in the final and was in top two from major portion and even had a shot at silver before the 34th shot but miss out with a low score of 9.4.
The reigning medalist Aishwary, meanwhile, could not find his best and finished fifth with a score of 323.7, while 2023 medalist Akhil finished 42nd in the qualification round.
The trio had earlier won a team bronze medal behind Czechia and Norway on Tuesday after a combined total of 1751 in the elimination round.
Niraj’s medal also took India’s tally to double digits, with 10 medals – 2 Gold, 5 Silver, 3 Bronze – and is in second place on the medal tally behind China.