Nineteen years old. Already beaten an Olympic medallist more than once. That's not hype, that's just where Suruchi Singh's career actually sits right now.
She and Kamaljeet won the 10m air pistol mixed team gold in Nagoya on Thursday, setting an Asian record while they were at it. India's second gold of these Games. Her coach had apparently told reporters earlier that day, in Hindi, something to the effect of: if she makes the final, gold's coming home. Turns out he called it.
There's a detail that follows Suruchi everywhere, and it's earned every bit of the attention. She trains at Guru Dronacharya Academy in Bhiwani, Haryana. Same place Manu Bhaker picked up her first pistol. Suruchi's home village, Sasroli, sits about 55km away, which meant a 90 minute commute each direction during her early training years. Not exactly glamorous.
Her father, Inder Singh Phogat, retired from the Army as a havildar. Comes from a wrestling family, actually, though Suruchi's built something entirely her own in a different sport. He took out a loan in 2019 to buy her first pistol, over 1.6 lakh rupees, and kept borrowing as her results improved and better gear became necessary.
Worked out faster than most people probably expected. She's already beaten Bhaker for gold at a World Cup in Lima. Broke her six year old junior world record at a World Cup Final in Doha. Five World Cup golds in one season, a run that took her from 26th in the world rankings to genuinely elite territory, fast. Asked directly about sharing a range with Bhaker, she's been blunt: admires her, sure, but no room for that to turn into pressure. Wants to be better. That's it, that's the whole answer.
Where Suruchi's rise looks almost effortless from the outside, Kamaljeet's has been a grind, and he doesn't pretend otherwise.
The 22 year old from Rewari didn't start in shooting at all. Was chasing athletics until an injury shut that door, pushing him toward pistol shooting in 2019 instead. Rough few years followed. "We are a middle class family, but my parents never let me quit shooting," he said before the Games, describing how he covered his own course fees and travel money early on, money that took two or three years to earn back. His family never asked questions. Just kept giving him what he needed.
Breakthrough came with a Junior World Championship gold in 50m pistol back in 2023, then an individual silver at the Asian Championships in New Delhi this year. He's talked up NRAI's selection process too, pure performance based ranking, no subjective calls, saying it's what let him walk onto the range without second guessing whether he'd actually earned the spot. Some reports suggest he stepped into this mixed pairing after a change involving a shooter named Kedarling, though honestly, I couldn't pin down the full details behind that swap from what's publicly available.
Shooting delivered twice for India on Thursday. Alongside the mixed gold, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil, and Niraj Kumar picked up silver in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions team event. Pushed India's medal count to 19 for the Games.
Political reactions landed fast, as they always do. Amit Shah called it a grand triumph. Rajnath Singh praised their dedication. President Murmu congratulated the rifle trio separately, calling out their teamwork. Haryana's chief minister and the Sports Minister both singled out Suruchi and Kamaljeet by name, which tracks, Haryana's been quietly producing a huge chunk of India's shooting talent for years now.
Photo: Asian Games / SAI
What makes this pairing worth paying attention to isn't just the record. It's how little these two paths have in common. Suruchi's story reads like a rocket, a teenager who showed up on the senior circuit and immediately started beating the athlete she grew up watching. Kamaljeet's story is slower, rougher, an athlete rebuilding a whole sporting identity from scratch after his first dream fell apart, kept afloat by a family that never stopped saying yes even when money was genuinely tight.
Put those two next to each other in one event, and somehow, it just works.
