Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar targets individual gold as Asian Games approach
Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar said he aims to deliver his best performance and win the gold medal at the Asian Games during a conversation at the Indian team’s preparatory camp in Bhopal on September 6, 2026. He is entered only in the 50m rifle 3 Position event for this edition of the Games.
A two-time Olympian, Tomar won four medals at the previous Asian Games in 2023 — two team golds, an individual silver and an individual bronze — results that established him as a leading figure in India’s shooting squad. Reflecting on that success at the Bhopal camp, he told The Hindu: “The last Asian Games was one of my best competitions. This time the target is to give the best performance and win the gold medal.”
At 25, Tomar is described in the team profile as already a veteran of the sport and one of the country’s most consistent competitors in his discipline. On his approach to maintaining form he said: “The mindset is to stay at the top. I have been at the top in India for the last 5-6 years in my event. There is competition but there is no rivalry. At the end of the day, it will be a medal for India and that’s what matters,” he declared.
Tomar addressed the difference between team and individual success, noting the special value he places on individual titles and the absence of team events at the Olympics. “Individual, always. As far as the team gold is concerned, it is our country’s gold. But there are no team medals in the Olympics, shooting is mainly an individual event,” he shrugged.
He outlined his method for coping with competition pressure, saying he deliberately exposes himself in training to the distractions that can occur during an event so they do not overwhelm him in competition. “The outside hustle while on the lane is fine; it’s the whirling inside that takes little time to calm down. It’s all a mind game, how well you control yours. “No thought should be so powerful. That it starts affecting you. During training, I consciously bring in all the possible thoughts that can come during competition, “I force myself to look at all the distractions. Scores. Ranking. Medal. What others are doing. All possible scenarios. So that when I actually compete, I will be used to it,” he revealed.
Tomar will be among the senior professionals in the Indian shooting contingent at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya and will contest the 50m rifle 3 Position, carrying the aim of converting his previous multi-medal haul into an individual gold.