Asian Games 2026: In what was her maiden Asian Games 2026, 18-year-old Tilottama Sen, who competed in the Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions Team event, won silver to start her journey on the big stage brightly.
The trio of Sen, Ashi Chouksey and Vidarsa Vinod combined forces to secure a score of 1763-90x to win silver behind China, who won gold with a tally of 1773-105x. As far as the individual event goes, the teenage athlete had equally put herself up in contention for a medal but a minor slip meant that she finished fourth eventually. However, these performances will keep her in good stead for the upcoming big-ticket events.
Before Asian Games 2026, Tilottama Sen exclusively answered some questions presented by the ITV Network. Here are the excerpts from the brief interview:
1)Did you ever think that a hobby that you had picked up only to reduce screen time would become such a big part of your life?
Honestly, I never thought that I would even take up this sport for a longer run to be very honest because for me shooting when I started I was 12. So it was a very very boring sport for me standing there standing still for hours. So, I felt it was a very boring sport but later when I started winning medals and I got that appreciation from my parents and everybody around that’s when I felt like oh maybe I can I can do much better and that’s how I started and it became a very big part of my life but initially I never thought I would take it seriously.
2)At what point in your life you felt you want to take up sports shooting professionally?
Not a particular moment or point but when I saw that when I saw the improvement happening and then the medals I started winning the medals I thought maybe I can give it a shot and see how far I can go but taking it professionally was still a question for me but my dad was the one who said that ‘hey listen if you’re doing it let’s do this seriously’ and that’s how it just happened. Was it after a particular tournament was it after a particular medal? So we had a tournament happening at one of the range and I actually shot I actually borrowed a weapon from somebody else from the range and I shot my personal best in that competition at the same time in the finals I also shot a world record so that’s when my dad was like hey listen now you can actually I feel like you can take this seriously and let’s buy a gun for you and that’s how I also got my weapon and that’s when I saw that after getting the weapon I saw even better improvements and that’s when I was like okay now I can take this as a professional.
3)You had multiple setbacks during your career but you have bounced back equally well from those. As you prepare to compete in what is on seemingly the biggest stage, do you feel the earlier setbacks has kept you in good stead?
I do feel that they have prepared because now when I approach a competition I approach in a very in a different way not just competing and giving my best at the same time or enjoying the whole process and the competition so that’s something which has changed and I would say with the other setbacks I’ve had I I would say that I do have an idea on how to manage whenever there’s a there’s a problem during the qualification or the final so I would say that I’ve got enough experience from the last couple of years I’ve been shooting and I would I would say that I feel that I am ready for the Games.
4)I understand your immediate goal will be to win the gold in the Asian Games but does the preparation for the Olympics somewhat begin here?
Yes, I actually read a quote somewhere which said that it’s not every four years it’s every day so the games and I would say the preparations have started long back and Asian Games is just another competition where I’m preparing for the LA games and just I’m just focusing on improving one percent every day.
5)Who have you looked up to as your idol as far as shooting is concerned?
I mean, of course, we have our idol Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang but at the same time I look up to a lot of my seniors as well like seniors who’ve been shooting for around around a decade now and still they’re competing with the younger generation so it’s quite fascinating for me to see our seniors competing even now and they’re equally good so and they’re equally consistent so that’s something I would say all my seniors that I have in the team is I mean I also look up to them as well.