Niraj Kumar Wins Bronze in Doha, Earns India a Second Shooting Quota for LA 2028

A late slip costs silver

Indian rifle shooter Niraj Kumar claimed bronze in the men’s 50m 3-position final at the ISSF World Championships in Doha on Wednesday, November 11, 2026. The result gave India its second Olympic quota of the championships for the 2028 Los Angeles Games, following an earlier silver by Jaypal Malviya in the 10m air pistol.

Niraj finished with 346.5 points. He had been in contention for the silver medal until a 9.4 on his 34th shot dropped him to third place, a score that allowed Slovakia’s Patrik Jany to move ahead of him.

Gold goes to Pimenov

Dmitrii Pimenov, competing as an Individual Neutral Athlete, won gold with a world junior record total of 362.8, finishing well clear of the rest of the field. Jany took silver with 357.2. Norway’s Jon-Hermann Hegg took fourth place with 335.9, and that finish secured the third quota in the event. Jany did not receive a quota because an athlete can only secure one place per national Olympic committee, and Slovakia had already qualified in the 10m rifle.

Teammates and the team event

Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, a two-time Olympian and former World Championships silver medallist, had started strongly in the kneeling position but lost ground during the prone and standing series, eventually finishing fifth with 323.7. Niraj had topped the qualification round with 591.

India also took bronze in the team event. Niraj, Aishwary and Akhil Sheoran totalled 1,751 in the elimination round, missing silver by a single point. Norway took second with 1,752, while the Czech Republic won gold with 1,754.

Conditions and preparation

National rifle coach Manoj Kumar, speaking to Hindustan Times from Doha, said the wind was the decisive challenge. Conditions at the range were around 16 to 17 knots, far stronger than the 6 to 7 knots the team usually trains in at Delhi’s Karni Singh Shooting Range. Ahead of the elimination stage, the shooters worked with the coach on reading the wind and adjusting their aim by direction, and Manoj credited Niraj with adapting well.

Niraj, a 26-year-old Navy shooter from Hoshiarpur, Punjab, had also been part of India’s team bronze-winning side in 50m 3-position at the recent Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya. Manoj said the squad had worked on Niraj’s kneeling position, which had been his weakest area.

Background

Quota places at the Olympics are awarded to countries, not individuals. Selection for the Los Angeles Games will be decided by Indian shooting authorities closer to the event, so the quota does not guarantee Niraj a place in the team.

What next

Attention now shifts to the men’s trap competition, where Udaivir Singh and Vivaan Kapoor were placed seventh and eighth after four rounds, each on 97. The top eight after the final qualification round on Thursday, November 12, advance to the medal round, and India leads the team standings with an aggregate of 285, with one more round to be shot.