Himanshu Dhillon wins silver in 10m air rifle at Asian Games in Nagoya

Himanshu Dhillon, 20, secured a silver medal in the 10m air rifle event at the Asian Games in Nagoya on Monday, September 21, 2026, marking his maiden senior international outing.

Hailing from Haryana, a state the article links to wrestling and shooting, Dhillon had been expected to follow the family and regional wrestling tradition but instead established himself in shooting. He is the nephew of 2016 Rio Olympics Greco-Roman 98kg wrestler Hardeep Singh Dhillon. Described as a chubby child who was first put into sport for fitness, Dhillon briefly tried wrestling before switching disciplines.

Reflecting on that early period, he said, “Wrestling was too hard,” he shrugged. His father then enrolled him at Gurukul Pundri in Kaithal to build independence, and it was there that he developed an interest in shooting. On that transition he added, “When I started, every time I would collapse on the mat, I would wonder what I had got myself into. But now it finally feels like I did the right thing, that the decision to get into shooting was not a mistake,” he laughed.

The piece notes Dhillon carries a pronounced self-assuredness that the writer characterises as typical for his region. He quoted his father’s maxim about only valuing gold and repeated that mindset as his target at Nagoya: “I am only happy when I win gold. My father always says gold is the only medal that counts; every silver is a gold lost. That thought has always been with me and that was my target here too. I had decided that even if I had to walk off after every shot to get my bearings right, I would do it but go for gold. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen but I will keep trying till I get it,” he declared after the 10m air rifle event on Monday.

Dhillon acknowledged an on-range contest with senior teammate Rudrankksh Patil over the final medal positions. He said he could have eased once the top three were established but instead kept pushing because the medal colour could still change: “I knew I could have taken it a little easy after the top-three were decided, that at least a bronze was confirmed. But I was not ready to give up. I kept thinking that the colour of the medal could still change, that I could maybe shoot a perfect score and the others might slip up,” he said.

Next on Dhillon’s schedule is the World championships in Doha, which the report identifies as his forthcoming major event. On the competitive environment he said: “There, everyone starts at zero. Wahan dekhte hain kiska kitna jigra hai.”