India secured three medals in the men’s 10m air rifle events at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Monday, September 21, as Himanshu Dhillon won individual silver and Rudrankksh Patil took bronze, hours after both shooters and Parth Rakesh Mane had won team silver.
China’s reigning Olympic champion Sheng Lihao claimed gold with 254.2 points, while Dhillon scored 252.4 and Patil finished with 230.9. The Indian pair had earlier qualified for the eight-shooter final, with Patil third on 631.8 and Dhillon seventh on 630.0.
The individual medals took India’s shooting haul to five medals in two days, following Elavenil Valarivan’s individual and team silvers in the women’s 10m air rifle event.
National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) president Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo called the start encouraging and said there were more opportunities ahead, while Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya also congratulated Patil, Dhillon and Mane for their team silver.
Double Podium For India
The two individual medals came barely an hour after India’s men’s 10m air rifle team had finished second. Patil, Dhillon and Mane combined for 1890.1 points, behind China’s world-record 1899.0, while South Korea took bronze with 1884.2.
Patil and Dhillon then carried that momentum into the individual final, where both remained in medal contention. Patil made a particularly strong start, scoring 52.8 in the opening series and moving to 106.0 after two series, ahead of Sheng on 104.9 and Dhillon on 104.8. Dhillon steadily moved through the field and eventually finished second.
His 252.4 left him just 1.8 points behind Sheng, whose 254.2 was reported as a new Asian record. Patil, who had led early in the final, eventually finished third with 230.9. He was eliminated after the 14th shot, according to Business Standard.
From Experience To Breakthrough
The result brought together two different stages of Indian shooting careers. Patil, already a world champion and a member of India’s gold-winning 10m air rifle team at the Hangzhou Asian Games, added another Asian Games individual medal to his record.
His bronze also followed a successful season in which he won the men’s 10m air rifle title at the Asian Rifle/Pistol Championship in New Delhi. Dhillon, meanwhile, converted his first Asian Games individual final into a silver medal after entering it seventh in qualification.
His journey has attracted attention because shooting was not his first sporting choice; an Indian Express profile reported that he briefly tried wrestling before moving towards shooting, with his family supporting that transition.
The pair’s success also extends India’s strong run in the discipline: Elavenil Valarivan had won individual silver after helping India to women’s 10m air rifle team silver on the previous day. With the men’s team silver, Dhillon’s silver and Patil’s bronze, India collected three medals from the men’s 10m air rifle events alone.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
India’s shooting performance at Aichi-Nagoya offers more than a medal-counting moment: it highlights what can happen when experienced athletes and emerging talent share the same platform. Patil’s experience and Dhillon’s breakthrough were complemented by Mane’s contribution to the team silver, underlining that sporting success is rarely the work of one individual alone.
NRAI president Kalikesh Singh Deo said the contingent had made a good start, noting that India had already collected five shooting medals in the opening two days and that more events remained. His comments point towards a campaign that is still unfolding rather than one defined by a single morning’s results.
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