New Delhi: Samrat Rana, the 20-year-old pistol shooter competing in his maiden world championships, created tremors in the shooting world as he sensationally won India’s first gold medal in 10m air pistol, beating Hu Kai — the most dominant Chinese shooter of the year.
Rana was competing in his first senior international final and was up against a stellar field including Olympic and world champions but the shooter from Karnal (Haryana), who topped the qualification earlier, showed no nerves even when Hu was breathing down his neck during the pulsating final and with the title on line.
Rana, ahead of Kai by just 0.6 points and with the final shot to go, pulled the trigger for a stunning 10.6 under pressure to seal the title. Hu shot a 10.8 but it was not enough. Rana’s total score was 243.7 and Hu fell short by just 0.4 points. There was double delight for India as Paris Olympian Varun Tomar too finished on the podium winning bronze with 221.7 points.
“I still can’t believe it,” said Rana after his victory. “I think it’s a happy hunting ground for me. I won two medals here in Cairo at the junior world championships in 2022. I like the ambience. I was just trying to focus on my technique in every shot towards the end.”
Hu has been incredibly dominant this season. The Chinese was undefeated in 2025 across all four ISSF World Cup events in the men’s 10m air pistol, besides his title at the Asian Championships in Symkhent. Thus, Hu was the first shooter ever to win all four ISSF World Cup legs in a single event, in a single year.
While Hu entered the world championships as a favourite, Rana’s senior international journey started only this year at the ISSF World Cup in Ningbo, China, where he finished 10th.
His only international appearance was at the Junior World Championships in Cairo in 2022, where he clinched gold medals in mixed team event and team events. He also won the World University Shooting Championships gold in Delhi last year. That said, it was unexpected of him to become a world champion in air pistol in his first appearance.
Rana, who took to shooting at the insistence of his father and even has a small range at his home, made it to the senior national side only this year after consistent performance in domestic selection trials. In the third selection trials he defeated Saurabh Chaudhary.
The depth in Indian shooting came to the fore in Cairo. Both Rana and Tomar Indians showed great form in qualification and finished at the top with 586 points taking the first and second places. Rana pipped Tomar on more inner 10s — 28 to be precise.
The final was highly competitive and close with some of the world’s best pistol shooters in fray. From Hu to Olympic and World champion Christian Reitz, three-time Olympian, Pavlo Korostylov of Ukraine, Paris Olympics silver medalist Federico Maldini of Italy, it was cream of world’s top shooters on show.
Hu was on fire and led after the first five shots with a score of 51.2 points while Rana was second at 50.7pts. Tomar was placed 5th with 49.6 points. In the next series of five shots, Rana (101.2 points) took the lead displacing Hu from the top (100.7pts) while Tomar also jumped to third spot (100.6 points).
After 14 shots, Rana kept himself ahead (141.1pts) of Hu but by just 0.1 points. It was a fierce battle and the Indian was relentless in putting pressure on the Chinese. After 16 shots it was Tomar who sprung to lead (160.8 points) with Rana at second position (160.7pts) and Korostylov of Ukraine at third (160.2).
Rana turned the tables from there on taking the top place with just four shots left in the final (202.5pt). Hu was at second followed by Tomar in third. Hu was at the top after 22 shots and Rana was just 0.1 points behind. But eventually it was Rana who had the last laugh. Needing at least 10.3 to win, Rana soared to history with a brilliant 10.6.
Earlier, double Paris Olympics medallist Manu Bhaker and Asian Games medallist Esha Singh qualified for the final but missed out on the podium. Manu, was in fact in top position in the final after 13 shots, but was undone by an 8.8 in her next shot to finish 7th. Esha was also in contention for a medal but had a similar dip with a 8.4 shot in his 16th shot to take 6th position.
In men’s air pistol, India also picked up the team gold. Rana, Tomar and Shravan Kumar won gold with a combined total of 1754. Italy won silver and Germany bronze.
With the air pistol women’s team also winning a silver, India added four medals to its tally on Monday and was placed behind China with nine medals (3G-3S-3B). China has six gold and a total of 12 medals.