Asian Games 2026: Joydeep Karmakar defends Indian shooters, slams hit job after underwhelming campaign

India bagged 10 medals in shooting so far at the Asian Games 2026.

India’s shooting contingent has delivered a substantial medal haul at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, yet the squad’s mood has been far from celebratory.

Former Olympian Joydeep Karmakar has now weighed in on the debate, questioning why shooters face criticism for winning silver medals when athletes in other disciplines are often praised for reaching a quarter-final or qualifying for a heat.

Karmakar, who has frequently questioned the Indian shooting federation’s strategic planning at major multi-sport events, admitted he struggled to understand the harsh reception the shooters faced at this edition of the Games.

“In any sporting discipline at the Asian Games, a fight in the quarters or a heat or a qualification is hailed and spoken about. Even if you win a bronze medal, superlative! But in shooting, even a silver medal draws flak,” he said, asking whether this comes from genuinely high standards or simply unfair expectations from occasional followers of the sport.

India has fielded a 30-member shooting contingent, widely regarded as one of its strongest ever, competing across 28 rifle, pistol and shotgun events at the Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Range.

Manu Bhaker, Rudrankksh Patil, Esha Singh and Vidarsa Vinod are among the key names featuring in multiple individual events.

A medal count without the colour everyone wanted

By September 25, India had collected 10 medals, one gold and the rest silver and bronze. Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet delivered the sole gold in the 10m air pistol mixed team event. Everything else stayed just short.

Elavenil Valarivan took silver individually in the women’s 10m air rifle, with her team also settling for silver behind China.

Himanshu Dhillon mirrored that result in the men’s 10m air rifle, finishing second, while Rudrankksh Patil added bronze in the same event.

The men’s 50m rifle 3 positions team also finished with silver. On the shotgun range, India picked up three bronzes through the women’s skeet team, the men’s skeet team, and the mixed skeet team.

For context, India arrived hoping to match the 2022 Hangzhou Games, where the country won 22 shooting medals, including seven golds. Shooting remains India’s second most prolific Asian Games sport historically, with 80 medals and 16 golds overall before this edition, trailing only athletics.

Whether the criticism is fair scrutiny of a squad built on genuine medal expectations, or an unfair standard applied only to shooters, remains the open question Karmakar has put to the sporting public.

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