Kamaljeet’s Journey From Athletics Injury to Asian Games 2026 Shooting Squad

New Delhi: An injury on the athletics track ended one sporting dream for Kamaljeet. It also unexpectedly opened the door to another.

The 22-year-old from Rewari, Haryana, switched to pistol shooting in 2019 and has since built himself into one of India’s promising 50m Pistol shooters. Now, seven years after picking up a pistol for the first time, Kamaljeet is preparing for the biggest assignment of his young career – his maiden Asian Games appearance at Aichi-Nagoya 2026.

The shooting events at the continental showpiece are scheduled from September 17 to October 3 at the Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Gallery in Japan. But the road to India’s Asian Games squad was far from straightforward.

For Kamaljeet, the biggest challenge in the early years was not simply improving his scores. It was finding the money to continue competing.

“We are a middle-class family, but my parents never let me quit shooting. I had to manage my own expenses for course fees and international matches early on, and there were times I thought I wouldn’t continue in the 50m Pistol event,” Kamaljeet said.

There were periods when the financial burden made him question whether he could continue pursuing the sport.

“It took me two to three years to earn that money back, but my family never asked questions – they gave me whatever I needed to keep going,” he added.

That support became particularly important as Kamaljeet tried to establish himself on the domestic circuit.

From the athletics track to the shooting range

Kamaljeet’s sporting journey did not begin with shooting. An injury while pursuing athletics forced him to reconsider his sporting future. In 2019, he found his way to shooting, eventually settling into the 50m Pistol discipline.

The transition required patience. Unlike athletes who often have access to established sporting structures from an early age, Kamaljeet had to build his shooting career almost from scratch.

A key part of that process was the relationship he developed with his coach, who comes from the same village.

“I have only one shooting coach who taught me everything from scratch. He is from my village, so our relationship feels like family. Between my coach and my uncle at home, I’ve had the strongest foundation throughout this journey,” Kamaljeet said.

That combination of coaching and family support helped him remain in the sport even when the financial challenges became difficult to manage.

From financial pressure to institutional backing

As Kamaljeet’s performances improved, the support system around him also began to change.

Support from the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) eventually removed much of the financial uncertainty that had surrounded his early career.

“Earlier, I used to struggle a lot just to manage basic expenses, but having sponsorship and support from SAI took a huge weight off my shoulders,” he said.

That change allowed Kamaljeet to focus more closely on the one thing that ultimately determines a shooter’s place in the national squad – performance.

For him, the NRAI’s selection system provided an additional sense of clarity.

“Once I could focus purely on my sport, the pathway became very clear because of how transparent NRAI’s selection process is,” Kamaljeet said.

“My place in the national squad came strictly on merit, based on the ranking points I accumulated across the ranking events. When you know the system is entirely performance-driven and every point you earn counts, it gives you complete confidence to just step onto the lane and shoot your best without any second thoughts.”

The support has also extended to the technical side of his preparation.

“On top of that, NRAI provides us with top-quality equipment and ammunition, the exact same standard we use in international competitions. That takes away any worry about our gear on the global stage so we can stay fully focused on performance,” he added.

A junior world champion with growing senior ambitions

Kamaljeet’s emergence is backed by a significant junior achievement. He won gold in the Men’s 50m Pistol Junior event at the 2023 ISSF Junior World Championships, establishing himself as a shooter capable of performing on a major international stage.

His progress has continued in the senior ranks. A recent silver medal at the Asian Championships in New Delhi further strengthened his credentials ahead of his Asian Games debut.

The transition from junior success to senior competition, however, has also brought lessons. His recent World Cup experience was one such learning opportunity.

“The World Cup was a valuable learning experience. While my performance wasn’t exactly what I wanted, it motivated me to refine my preparation,” Kamaljeet said.

Rather than allowing the result to undermine his confidence, he has used the experience to identify areas where he needs to improve before travelling to Japan.

“This will be my first Asian Games, and having gained international match exposure, I feel much more confident entering the range in Japan,” he added.

The biggest change is inside his head

For a precision sport such as shooting, technical ability is only one part of the equation.

Kamaljeet believes the biggest change in his game has been his ability to carry his practice form into competition.

“Earlier, I used to shoot good scores only in practice, but now I have the belief that I can deliver the same performance under match pressure,” he said.

That mental shift could prove particularly important at the Asian Games, where the pressure of representing India will be significantly greater than at domestic competitions.

The 22-year-old is no longer simply trying to prove that he belongs at the international level. He now has an opportunity to establish himself as a senior contender.

And his journey has given him a philosophy that extends beyond shooting. “One lesson has stayed with me through every phase: if it doesn’t happen the way you wanted, it will happen in a better way than you imagined.”

An athletics injury may have closed one door for Kamaljeet seven years ago. But the path that opened afterwards has taken him from a shooting range in Haryana to the Indian national squad and, now, to the Asian Games.

At Aichi-Nagoya, he will line up in the Men’s 50m Pistol – the discipline that transformed his sporting career – with the belief that the difficult years were not setbacks, but part of the journey that brought him here.