Who is Samrat Rana? India's first individual air pistol world champion

Samrat Rana etched his name in history books, becoming the first Indian to win an individual 10m air pistol gold medal at the 2025 ISSF World Championships in Cario, Egypt on Monday.

Rana became only the fifth Indian after Abhinav Bindra, Tejaswini Sawant, Rudrannksh Patil, and the mixed air pistol duo of Shiva Narwal-Esha Singh to win the world championship title in an Olympic event.

Who is Samrat Rana?

Hailing from Karnal in Haryana, Samrat Rana is a 20-year-old pistol shooter. The youngest of four children, Samrat followed in his father's path.

Samrat's father – Ashok – was an aspiring shooter himself but couldn't make a mark in the sport due to lack of awareness and opportunities surrounding the sport during his time.

Ashok developed a makeshift shooting range at his home and brought Samrat a new air pistol to nurture his talent. He taught his child the basics of shooting and Samrat continues to train with him. 

Samrat's major break through came three years back in 2022, when he clinched twin gold – men's 10m air pistol team and the mixed 10m air pistol – medals at the ISSF Junior World Championships in Cairo, Egypt.

"The ambience is good here. I won two medals here in Cairo at the junior world championships in 2022," said Samrat after being crowned the world champion.

"It is like home to me," he added.

The 2025 ISSF World Championships was Samrat's debut at the senior world championships and his first international medal at the senior level. He has never won a medal at the ISSF World Cups either.

On Monday as he was crowned the world champion, Samrat displayed nerves of steel. He shot two 10.9s in his final six shots after being pushed into the bronze medal position.

He then shot a stellar 10.6 with his final shot when he needed a 10.3 or more to overtake China's Hu Kai for the gold medal.