Suruchi and Kamaljeet won gold in the 10m air pistol mixed team event at the Aichi General Shooting Range in Asian Games 2026 on Friday. The Indian pair also set a Games and Asian record with a score of 484.6. The victory came just two days after Suruchi suffered a disappointing exit from the individual 10m air pistol event.

“Bas reset button dabaya maine,” Suruchi Inder Singh said after turning a major disappointment into an Asian Games gold medal for India within just two days.

Suruchi makes stunning comeback

Suruchi entered the Asian Games as one of the leading medal contenders in the individual event. She had won four individual World Cup gold medals in 2025 in Buenos Aires, Munich, Lima and Doha. Her achievements also included a gold at the World Cup Final. However, she failed to reach the individual final at the Asian Games.

Suruchi finished 26th among 55 shooters in qualification. She scored 568-12x and missed out on a place in the final. The disappointment was clear on her face. She removed her shooting glasses and packed her pistol into its case. She then shook hands with her coach and support staff before quietly leaving the Aichi General Shooting Gallery.

Suruchi had dominated the event with her performances for nearly two years. She also carried high expectations into the Games. But everything changed within an hour during the individual competition.

Suruchi uses the ‘reset button’

The disappointing result affected Suruchi deeply. But she knew she had another event to compete in. She returned to the range on Friday with a fresh mindset. She produced a superb performance alongside Kamaljeet and helped India win gold in the mixed team event.

Suruchi said she needed to hit the ‘reset button’ after the individual disappointment. She spoke with her mother and coach and spent time thinking about what had gone wrong.

She kept reminding herself of one simple message: “It’s okay, it’s done.”

“I would say that perhaps it just wasn’t my day during the individual event. Or maybe I faced a technical problem that I couldn’t understand, which prevented me from recovering. I had to hit the reset button because I had another competition in two days. And I couldn’t do it alone. I spoke to my coach and my parents, and staying with them helped me get my mind in the right place,” Suruchi told TimesofIndia.com during a media interaction.

“As soon as my match ended, I told myself, ‘It’s okay, it’s done.’ After that, my mother called and helped me get back into the right frame of mind. I had lunch and spent some time at the range. But by evening, I started feeling low again. I didn’t feel like eating anything after the disappointing match, nor did I feel like talking to anyone,” the pistol shooter said.

“I felt that it was all over for me at the Games. There was no other match left for me. It felt like everything had come to an end. Once that one match was over, I felt there was nothing left,” she said.

Kamaljeet gets a second chance

Suruchi was not the only Indian shooter who faced disappointment in the individual competition. Kamaljeet also missed out on a place in the men’s 10m air pistol final. He finished ninth in qualification on Thursday and missed the final by just one point.

The result left him worried that his first Asian Games campaign would end without a medal. “I was very sad. I was depressed because I felt that I would have to leave my maiden Asian Games without a medal,” he said.

However, Kamaljeet received another opportunity in the mixed team event. He replaced Kedarling Balakrishna Uchaganve in the event and joined Suruchi for the medal contest.

“Samresh sir told me there was a change in the 10m mixed team event and that I was being brought in place of Kedarling. I was overjoyed when I got the message. I had got one more chance to win the elusive Asian Games medal,” he said.

Indian pair delivers record-breaking performance

Kamaljeet made full use of his second opportunity. He combined with Suruchi to produce a record-breaking performance.

The Indian pair finished with 484.6 points. Their score set both a Games record and an Asian record.

The performance also turned two difficult individual campaigns into a memorable gold-medal victory for India.