Indian shooters now turn their eyes to the National Selection Trials 3 (Group A) to be held at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi from March 6 to 10. The trials assume great significance as India have a packed international and domestic calendar starting from April.
India had topped the medal tally with an impressive haul of 76 medals which included 39 gold, 18 silver and 19 bronze at the Asian Rifle/Pistol Championship 2026. Hence, top Indian rifle and pistol shooters now are eyeing more glory in the selection trials.
Almost all of India’s top guns will be competing in 10 events, which include all the eight Olympic events plus the rifle prone competitions for men and women. The shooters will be aiming to secure scores to make their case for selection in the national squad for international competitions in the second half of the year.
Rifle/Pistol Selection Trials 3 and 4 for Group B athletes will also commence on Friday and it will be held at the M P State Shooting Academy in Bhopal from March 6 to 22. After the completion of the selection trials, the selected shooters will start their coaching camp in New Delhi from March 10 to 21.
The National Squad camp for shotgun shooters commenced on Thursday in New Delhi with the skeet shooters reporting first. Trap shooters will report for the national camp on the March 8, 2026.
The national squad camp will be followed by the pre-event camp prior to the ISSF World Cup Shotgun, the first World Cup of the calendar year, which will be held in Tangier, Morocco, from March 21 to April 3, 2026.
Indian teams for the first two Rifle/Pistol (Granada and Munich) and Shotgun (Tangier and Almaty) ISSF World Cup stages of the year, have already been announced.
The new Olympic cycle leading up to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics begins this year, with the first quota places set to be decided at the ISSF World Championship Doha 2026 in October–November. The season will also feature the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026, where Indian shooters will aim to deliver another strong performance. With these marquee events on the horizon, both domestic and international competitions will play a crucial role in team selections across rifle, pistol and shotgun disciplines.
