India’s shooters will march into Cairo this November with both swagger and purpose. The ISSF World Championships 2025 Rifle/Pistol, set for November 6–18 at the Egypt International Olympic City, come at a transformative moment for Indian shooting.
With 40 athletes across rifle and pistol events, including Olympic and Asian champions, the contingent represents not just depth, but a strategic evolution in India’s global sporting ambitions.
Fresh from a dominant World Cup season that yielded 22 medals including 9 Golds the Indian team enters Cairo as one of the top two nations in the world, trailing only China in overall consistency. Yet this championship is about more than medals.
With Olympic qualification already completed for Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028 quotas not yet open, Cairo serves a different purpose, to collect valuable World Ranking points, secure berths for the World Cup Final, and consolidate India’s rising supremacy in world shooting.
India’s Strongest Discipline: The Women’s Pistol Revolution
If one event defines India’s medal hopes, it is the Women’s 10m Air Pistol. Led by World No. 1 Suruchi Singh, the trio of Suruchi, Esha Singh, and Manu Bhaker has rewritten India’s shooting history in 2025. Together, they achieved an unprecedented clean sweep of all four World Cup gold medals this year a feat unmatched by any nation in a single discipline.
Suruchi has been unstoppable. With three straight golds (Buenos Aires, Lima, Munich), her precision, poise, and tactical awareness have made her the face of India’s shooting resurgence. Esha Singh’s triumph in Ningbo completed the sweep, her final round 10.5 sealing victory over China’s Yao Qianxun. Meanwhile, Manu Bhaker India’s most decorated Olympic shooter remains the steadying influence, adding silvers and bronzes to ensure podium continuity.
The internal competition among these three has been fierce and productive. Each thrives on the other’s success, creating a cycle of relentless improvement. Their form positions India not just as contenders, but clear favourites for both individual and team golds in Cairo. India’s strength also extends to the Women’s 25m Pistol, where Bhaker and Esha will pair with veteran Rahi Sarnobat, a two-time Olympian and former World Cup gold medallist. Rahi’s experience provides tactical depth, especially in the rapid stage a domain where India’s younger shooters continue to refine their precision and timing.
The Rifle Contingent: Familiar Turf and Focused Form
India’s rifle shooters enter Cairo with a blend of established champions and rising stars. In the Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions, Sift Kaur Samra leads a formidable unit that includes Ashi Chouksey and Anjum Moudgil. Samra, the reigning Asian Games champion, has enjoyed a stellar year winning gold at both the Buenos Aires World Cup and the Asian Championships. Her ability to recover from deficits under pressure, most recently overturning China’s Yujie Yang in Shymkent, underscores her world-class temperament.
Together, Samra, Chouksey, and Moudgil also secured the team gold at the Asian Championships with a total of 1753 points proof of both form and cohesion. While Chouksey continues to grow into her prime, Moudgil’s experience as a former World Championships silver medallist adds invaluable balance.
In the Women’s 10m Air Rifle, Elavenil Valarivan leads the charge. A two-time Olympian, Valarivan recently claimed gold at the Asian Championships, defeating China’s Peng Xinlu in a high-pressure final after qualifying only eighth. Her ability to deliver under stress a shift from her earlier front-running style bodes well for Cairo’s elimination format. She will be supported by Shreya Agrawal and Meghana Sajjanar, who aim to anchor India’s team score against the depth of East Asia’s shooting powerhouses.
Among the men, the spotlight naturally falls on Rudrankksh Patil, who returns to the same Cairo range where he captured his 2022 World Championship gold. The 21-year-old has since evolved into India’s most consistent rifle marksman, winning gold again at the 2025 Buenos Aires World Cup. His confidence at the venue a factor known as the “Cairo Effect” could be decisive in a field stacked with names like China’s Sheng Lihao and Norway’s Jon-Hermann Hegg.
Supporting him is Arjun Babuta, whose mixed team gold with Valarivan at the 2025 Asian Championships showcased his composure in partnership events. Vishal Singh completes the Air Rifle lineup, offering depth in team scoring.
The Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions squad Swapnil Kusale, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, and Niraj Kumar brings both pedigree and momentum. Kusale, the Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medallist, continues to anchor India’s technical events with consistency and calm. Tomar’s 2025 Asian Championship gold confirms his upward trajectory, while the trio’s prior team gold at the 2023 World Championships demonstrates a proven synergy that could deliver another team medal.
On the pistol side, Anish Bhanwala carries India’s hopes in the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol, having claimed silver at the Asian Championships. A quick, instinctive shooter with composure under pressure, Bhanwala has emerged as one of India’s few consistent performers in a discipline dominated by Europeans.
Mixed Team Power: Doubling the Medal Chance
India’s mixed team events have been a goldmine in recent years, and Cairo should be no different. In the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team, the pairings of Arjun Babuta & Elavenil Valarivan and Rudrankksh Patil & Shreya Agrawal present dual podium threats. Babuta and Valarivan, fresh off a 17–11 victory over China at the 2025 Asian Championships, have already proven their ability to close out high-pressure matches.
In the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team, Suruchi Singh and Esha Singh partner with Shravan Kumar and Samrat Rana, respectively. Here, the women’s consistency forms the backbone, while the men must ensure stability to complement their scoring advantage. With both Suruchi (WR #1) and Esha (World Cup gold medallist) in top form, India is poised to challenge for dual podium finishes in this category as well.
Unlike previous cycles focused on Olympic qualification, Cairo’s significance lies in ranking and consistency. Top-three finishes guarantee berths for December’s ISSF World Cup Final a crucial end-of-season event that shapes the global order. Given India’s dominance across multiple 2025 World Cups, many shooters have already secured WCF qualification, meaning the priority now is to strengthen world rankings and establish long-term stability heading into 2026.
Projected Medal Prospects
High-Probability Events:
•Women’s 10m Air Pistol (Individual & Team)
•Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions (Individual & Team)
•10m Air Rifle Mixed Team
Podium Contenders:
•Men’s 10m Air Rifle (Individual & Team)
•Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions (Team)
•10m Air Pistol Mixed Team
As the shooters prepare for Cairo, India’s campaign reflects a deeper maturity. This is no longer a story of breakout stars it’s a narrative of systems, consistency, and high-performance culture. The mental toughness of athletes like Sift Kaur Samra, the calm assurance of Swapnil Kusale, and the fearless confidence of Suruchi Singh collectively define a generation that expects to win, not hope to.
Cairo 2025 may not be an Olympic qualifier, but it is a proving ground a statement that India’s shooting excellence is no longer episodic. It is institutional.
