Sandeep Singh will be India’s lone representative in the men’s 10m air rifle shooting event at the Paris Olympics. It will be the debut Olympic campaign for the Punjab-born shooter, who has served the Indian Army at the Siachen Glacier. He started as a cross-country athlete and competed as a sprinter in state championships. Singh picked up shooting as a career after joining the army as a sepoy in the Sikh Light Infantry in 2014. “Within a few months, I won the state championships, and, in two years, I won a national bronze,” he revealed in an interview with the Sportstar.
Sandeep Singh was selected in India’s reserve team for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. He, however, couldn’t make the cut after failing a dope test. The incident also led to him facing a brief ban from shooting. Singh was immediately released from the Army Marksmanship Unit and was sent back to Siachen. His shooting skills caught the attention of a senior officer who recommended him to pursue his sports passion.
“They must have felt I could be a good shooter because I had a national medal and the army had also sent me to a training competition in the Netherlands,” Singh told Sportstar. He scored 636 in the first qualification round at the Air Force Shooting range in New Delhi. Singh represented the Indian shooting team for the first time at the ISSF World Cup in Rio De Janeiro last year.
Age – 28
Sports/Discipline – Shooting
World Ranking – 16 (Men’s 10m Air Rifle)
First Olympic Games – Paris 2024
Major Achievements
ISSF World Cup 2023, Rio de Janeiro: 5th in Mixed 10m Air Rifle Shooting
Paris Olympics Qualification
Sandeep Singh was handed the Paris Olympics quota following his dominant performance in the national trials. He registered scores of 634.4, 632.6 and 631.6 in the first three rounds. His score dropped to 628.3 in the last round but the average was enough for booking his ticket to Paris. The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) later included Singh in the Olympic team, replacing Rudrankksh Patil who had already obtained the quota.
Recent Performances
Sandeep Singh has been in sublime form over the past few months. In his World Cup debut in Rio De Janeiro, Singh helped India’s 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team secure a fifth-place finish. He also competed at the ISSF World Cups in Cairo, Granada and Munich earlier this year. In qualifiers for the Asian Championships, Singh registered a score of 633.4.
Event Date and Time
Mixed Team 10m Air Rifle Qualification – July 27 – 12:30 PM
10m Air Rifle men’s qualification – July 28 – 2:45 PM
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