Around India’s shooting ranges, there’s been a growing buzz this year about a ‘Chinese style’ teenage shooter. It’s a nod not just to her performances — though they have been spectacular — but to a philosophy: fast, aggressive and unflinchingly clinical; the hallmark of China’s shooting dominance.
At the center of this buzz is Suruchi Phogat, the 19-year-old whose ascent has been so rapid that it has left even seasoned observers scrambling for comparisons: a hat-trick of World Cup gold medals, a junior world record, and climbing to the top of the world rankings before ending the year at number 2.
But she’s been turning heads not just because she wins — India has seen many wunderkinds, Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker to name a couple. But it’s because of how she does it: with speed, composure, and a striking immunity to pressure.
In a sport where patience is often preached as gospel, Suruchi operates on a different rhythm. A Pant in the sport of Pujaras. Many elite shooters favour a long, deliberate aim, holding the pistol steady for extended seconds as they wait for the perfect sight picture. The risk, coaches warn, is ‘muscle creep’ — the subtle tremors that build as muscles fatigue.
Suruchi avoids that trap entirely. She typically releases her shot within six to eight seconds of raising the pistol, a quick-release approach that limits the impact of heart-rate fluctuations and visual strain, according to her coach Suresh Singh.
“It looks rushed if you’re not used to it,” says Suresh, who also coached Manu Bhaker in her early days. “But it’s actually very efficient and helpful. If you shoot fast, there’s no time for doubt.”
Suresh says he got this idea after watching pistol shooter Anish Bhanwala around three years ago. The 2025 World Championship silver medallist, Suresh observed, shot five times in four seconds in the rapid fire event. “In contrast, 10m pistol shooters sometimes took up to one minute for one shot. The more you think, the higher are chances of the mind getting muddled. Sochega toh gadbad karega baccha (the more you think, the greater the chance of a mistake),” he says.
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Suruchi was still a rookie when Suresh watched Bhanwala and decided to teach the then 16-year-old to shoot fast. She turned out faster than he anticipated. Shooters get 75 minutes to complete 60 shots during the qualification round. Suruchi needs just 35 or 40 minutes to complete her match, Suresh says. “And her scores aren’t impacted. She isn’t rushing into the shots at any moment,” he says.
That efficiency is paired with what may be her most lethal attribute: recovery. In pistol shooting, a single poor shot can derail an entire final, triggering panic. Suruchi, however, treats low scores as statistical noise. “She doesn’t get disturbed, doesn’t take much tension. She thinks, ‘If I have made a mistake, I only can amend it’,” Suresh says.
At the ISSF World Cup Final in Doha, she opened one series with an uncharacteristic 8.8 — normally the kind of score that invites panic. Instead, her next four shots were all above 10.5, capped by a flawless 10.9. The group, as shooters say, held tight.
Wrestling’s impact
Coaches often trace that stability back to an unlikely source: wrestling. Before she ever picked up a pistol, Suruchi was on the mat, doing what Phogats (no relation to the wrestler sisters) have earned fame for — wrestling. An aspiring wrestler until a collarbone injury cut short her career, thus pivoting to shooting, Suruchi learnt the art of balance and controlling her body under stress.
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That foundation, Suresh says, shows up now in her shooting stance. Her lower body remains rigid, her core locked, allowing the trigger finger to operate in near isolation from the rest of her frame.
Suruchi’s competitive season has unfolded like a clinical takeover of the ISSF World Cup circuit.
While most teenagers would be thrilled just to make a senior final, she appeared allergic to anything but the top step of the podium.
Her senior debut in Buenos Aires was meant to be a learning experience. Instead, it became a statement of intent. She shot 244.6 in the final to claim gold, announcing herself not as a prospect, but as a contender.
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In Lima, she proved the performance was no beginner’s luck, edging out double Olympic medalist Manu Bhaker for her second consecutive gold. Then came Munich — the self-styled ‘Mecca of Shooting’ — where history weighs heavily on every competitor. In a final that tested composure as much as technique, Suruchi completed a golden hat-trick, beating France’s Camille Jedrzejewski by a razor-thin 0.2 points.
If the early season was about winning, the year’s closing act was about legacy. At the ISSF World Cup Final in Doha this December, the field was stacked: Paris Olympic champion Oh Ye-jin, former world number ones, and veterans who had seen every imaginable scenario play out on the range. Suruchi started slowly, trailing in the early series. For many, that would have been the beginning of the end. Instead, it was familiar territory for her.
Shot by shot, she reeled the leaders back in, her tempo unchanged, expressions unreadable. When the final shot rang out, the scoreboard told the story: 245.1. Not only was it her fourth gold of the year, it was a Junior World Record, eclipsing the mark held by Manu Bhaker since 2019.
“I just pick up the pistol and shoot,” Suruchi had said after the gold in Munich. “I don’t think too much about the final; I just stick to the process.”
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For now, that process seems unstoppable. And as her quick shots echo across ranges from Delhi to Doha, the whispers grow louder. Chinese style, they say. Only this time, it’s Indian.
Suruchi’s highs
Golden hat-trick
World Cup, Buenos Aires: Gold medal on debut (score: 244.6)
World Cup, Lima: Gold medal, pips Manu Bhaker (score: 243.6)
World Cup, Munich: Gold medal, completes hat-trick (score: 241.9)
Eclipsing Manu’s six-year junior world record
World Cup final, Doha: Gold medal, sets junior world record (score: 245.1)
