Asian Games 2026: Sheng Lihao wins men's 10m air rifle; Himanshu silver, Rudrankksh bronze

Himanshu Dhillon took the silver and Rudrankksh Patil the bronze in the men's 10m air rifle individual final at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya on Monday (September 21, 2026), with China's Sheng Lihao claiming gold. Sheng finished on 233.0, Himanshu on 231.0 and Rudrankksh on 230.9.

Rudrankksh began the final strongly, opening with a 52.8 series and following it with a 53.2 to move 1.1 points clear. After 12 shots he led on 127.4, Himanshu was second on 126.6 and Sheng third on 126.3. Himanshu remained in medal contention throughout and briefly moved into second as the competition intensified.

The middle stages saw Sheng move into the lead after 16 shots with 168.8 while Rudrankksh and Himanshu were tied on 168.6. Himanshu produced a 10.9 to move to within 0.1 of Rudrankksh. A subsequent 9.8 dropped him to third before he recovered with a 10.6 to stay in contention.

After 20 shots Sheng had extended his advantage to one point, leaving Rudrankksh second on 210.6 and Himanshu third on 210.0. The contest remained extremely close through the middle stages as the finalists traded scores. Those totals set up a tight run-in to the eliminations.

In the elimination phase Rudrankksh was knocked out after 22 shots, finishing on 230.9, just 0.1 behind Himanshu's 231.0. His 9.7 in the preceding shot proved costly and resulted in the Indian settling for bronze. His elimination set up a two-shooter duel for the gold.

In the head-to-head finish both remaining shooters recorded 10.6 with their final shots. Sheng finished on 233.0 to claim gold. Himanshu took silver on 231.0.

The result produced a silver-and-bronze double for India in the men's 10m air rifle individual event at the Asian Games 2026, with both Himanshu Dhillon and Rudrankksh Patil finishing on the podium.