At first glance, she seems almost nonchalant. But put Suruchi Phogat in front of a target 10 metres away, and her eyes ignite with focus. Her precise firing-point routine takes over— more often than not ending with a pellet ripping clean through the 10-point ring.
The 19-year-old from Sasroli village in Haryana’s Jhajjar district has forced the shooting world to sit up and take notice ever since she boarded a flight to Buenos Aires earlier this year for her senior World Cup debut.
Since then, she has appeared in three World Cups — and returned home with the women’s 10m air pistol individual gold medal at each, completing an unprecedented hat-trick in Buenos Aires, Lima and Munich. In all, she has bagged five medals, including the 10m mixed team gold in Lima and a bronze in the same event in Buenos Aires, partnering Saurabh Chaudhary.
It’s not like a dream for me. It’s the result of my practice.
She was on her way back home from Bhiwani — a town about 50 km from Sasroli and famed as India’s boxing nursery — where she trains under coach Suresh Singh, who once mentored Manu Bhaker. When not competing internationally or busy on the domestic circuit, Suruchi travels daily to Bhiwani, accompanied by her father, Inder Singh, and her brother, who also shoots.
Suruchi’s father first took her to Suresh in 2021—a decision that transformed her career and gave new wings to her ambitions. A retired Hawaldar from the Indian Army, he encouraged her to pursue sport seriously.
It’s been four years training under Suresh sir,” she recalled. “My papa took me there one day, saying it’s a good place to train. I liked the range and understood everything Suresh sir told me. That’s when I decided to practice under him.
How Things Turned Around
But the journey was not always smooth. Suruchi returned from the 2023 National Games in Goa with her confidence shaken. She shot 562 in qualification, finishing a disappointing 19th.
That’s when Suresh decided it was time to address a pattern he had noticed.
“She was shooting in the 580s in training but struggling to finish her qualification matches on time,” Suresh said over the phone from Bhiwani. “Even with the 75 minutes allowed, she couldn’t complete her 60 shots.”
The coach realised this time pressure was translating into added stress — and lower scores. So he devised an unusual solution: he began setting her a 40-minute target in simulation training for a 60-shot match.
“That’s all I did—nothing more. And it worked,” Suresh said simply.
The results were immediate. At a National Selection Trial in 2024, Suruchi completed her qualification match in under 35 minutes and scored 582.
From there, she didn’t look back. She swept gold medals across age categories in the women’s 10m air pistol at the National Championships. Her golden hat-trick at the World Cups in 2025 established her as Indian shooting’s newest star.
I would say that my scores have improved because I finish matches quickly. Earlier, I used to score between 575 and 580, but now I can touch 585 without any problem. But please excuse me — I can’t reveal my technique,”
The impact of Suresh’s time-focused training was clear in her World Cup scores this year: 583 in Buenos Aires, 582 in Lima and a career-best 588 in Munich.
She carried that confidence into the finals, holding her nerve each time to claim the top spot. Before this run, her only international medal had been a bronze in the mixed team event at the 2023 Junior World Cup in Suhl.
‘Single-Minded Approach’
Asked if her mindset changes between qualification and the final, Suruchi insisted the objective never shifts.
“Nothing goes on in my mind. I have a single-minded approach—that I have to do what I have learned,” she said. “Whether it’s 60 shots, 24, 12, or even one, the objective is the same: you have to fire and prepare yourself shot by shot.”
But she admitted that earlier in her career, overthinking after a poor series often undermined her performance.
“It happened to me as well. If in one or two series I scored 94, 95 or 96 — or I hit an 8 or 9 on my first shot — it would start playing on my mind,” she explained. “But as I played more matches, I learned to control my thoughts.”
“My thought process now is that it (the bad shot) is gone. Now that it has left the barrel, I can’t do anything about it. I have to focus on the next one.”
When she won her first individual international medal, everything changed.
“I told myself that if it has happened now, it can happen again. Maine hi to kiya hai, main dobara bhi kar sakti hoon (I have done it, so I can do it again),” she said.
A level-headed outlook is also helping her stay grounded. Asked about her long-term ambitions, Suruchi’s answer was simple.
“I see myself where I am right now — I don’t think too far ahead. Everybody has dreams, but I don’t dream big. My next match is always my dream, my goal.”
Her next challenge: the Asian Shooting Championships in Kazakhstan from August 16 to 30.
