Suruchi Phogat is an 18-year-old girl from India who is making a big name for herself in shooting. She started as a wrestler when she was 11 because her dad, Inder Singh, loved the sport. He used to be in the army and wanted Suruchi to wrestle too. But after six months, she broke her collarbone—a bone near her shoulder—and had to stop wrestling.
Switching to Shooting
Suruchi didn’t seem tough enough for wrestling. She’s soft-spoken and giggles a lot, which makes her seem more like a kid than a fighter. Her dad was worried about more injuries, so he took her out of wrestling. But he still wanted her to play a sport. One day, they visited a shooting range—a place where people practice shooting guns at targets. Suruchi, then 14, thought it looked cool and decided to try it.
She trained hard at the Guru Dronacharya Shooting Academy in Bhiwani, a town 120 kilometers (about 75 miles) from her home in Sasroli, Haryana. Every day, she took a train for over three hours round-trip to practice. All that effort paid off. Now, she’s one of India’s best shooters with an air pistol—a type of gun that uses air to shoot small bullets.
Big Wins
Suruchi has won some huge competitions. At the National Games in Dehradun, she took the gold medal in the 10m air pistol event, beating strong shooters like Palak Gulia, who won at the Asian Games, and Rahi Sarnobat, a gold medalist from the 2018 Asian Games. She also teamed up with a shooter named Parmod to win another gold in the mixed team event.
In February, at the National shooting trials in Tughlakabad, Suruchi beat even more big names. She scored 246.4 points and won first place, defeating Sainyam, a former world junior champion who scored 241.5, and Manu Bhaker, an Olympic medalist who came in third. Suruchi also scored a personal best of 586 in the qualifying round—a test shooters take to see who gets to compete in the final.
She didn’t win the second trial—Meenu Pathak did—but Suruchi still finished second, ahead of other top shooters like Esha Singh, Manu Bhaker, and Rhythm Sangwan.
A New Star
Suruchi’s success has gotten people excited about shooting in India. She trains at the same academy where Manu Bhaker started, and now they’re both from the same area in Haryana, just 10 kilometers (about 6 miles) apart. They’re set to compete against each other in big events like the World Championships in Cairo this November, the Asian Games in Japan next year, and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. This rivalry could make shooting more popular in India.
Suruchi’s coach, Suresh Singh, used to train Manu too. He says, “Both Suruchi and Manu have the same confidence level, she could run Manu close [in competitions].” That means he thinks Suruchi can keep up with Manu. He also said, “At the Paris Olympics, the qualification score was 582…Suruchi has been consistently scoring 585, that shows how good she is.” In other words, Suruchi’s scores are high enough to compete at the Olympics.
Her Own Path
Manu Bhaker has won two bronze medals at the Olympics, but Suruchi doesn’t see her as her inspiration. “No,” Suruchi said when asked if Manu inspires her. “My parents, my coach, and myself are the inspiration.” She added, “Nobody is my challenger, I’m my own challenger.” That means she wants to push herself to be better, not just beat others.
Suruchi is now in her first year of college and sometimes meditates to stay calm. She’s focused on the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. “I’m preparing for the Olympics and I think Los Angeles 2028 will be a big year for me,” she said.
Shooting in India
Shooting has been a great sport for India at the Olympics. In 2008, Abhinav Bindra won India’s first gold medal in an individual event with the 10m air rifle. In 2024, at the Paris Olympics, Indian shooters won three bronze medals, including two from Manu Bhaker. Overall, India has seven Olympic medals in shooting. Suruchi wants to add to that list.
Her story is just beginning, and it’s already exciting to see what she’ll do next!
