"New gun, new technique" – Olympian Maheshwari Chauhan on a path to reinvent herself

On a shotgun range, the world shrinks into a fraction of a second.

A clay target is released, it arcs across the sky, and the shooter has less than the blink of an eye to react.

For Maheshwari Chauhan, that tiny window, that burst of focus, reflex, and rhythm is where her life has found meaning.

This week, at the Asian Shooting Championships, she will step into familiar territory.

It is where she first announced herself to the world in 2017, winning a historic bronze in Astana – the first Indian woman to medal individually in skeet at the continental level.

On a weary evening after training, Maheshwari Chauhan settled into her chair, tired but smiling, for an exclusive conversation with The Bridge.

“That one will always be special,” she says. “I went in without expectations, just to enjoy myself. And suddenly, I was on the podium with a medal against some of the best in the world. That moment told me I belonged.”

Belonging, though, has never come easily in Indian skeet shooting.

The sport doesn’t have the mass following of rifle or pistol, nor the safety net of a legacy pipeline. Chauhan’s rise has been lonely, paved with self-belief, a family steeped in the sport, and a stubborn refusal to stop breaking glass ceilings.

The heartbreak medals

Ask her about last year’s Asian Championships, and the smile fades.

“I finished third, but it was a quota competition. I missed out. That bronze was bittersweet. Raiza [Dhillon] won the silver and the quota. For me, standing on the podium without a ticket to Paris was heartbreaking.”

Her redemption came at the Olympic qualifiers in Doha in 2024.

“That silver was huge,” she says. “It was one of the toughest competitions with all the top shooters there, and with India’s policy, even a bronze wouldn’t have been enough.

"That medal gave me the points I needed to secure my Olympic quota and ensure my ticket to Paris,” she added with a smile.

Paris: the one-point ache

At the Paris Olympics, Chauhan lived through the kind of fine margins that make shooters lose sleep.

She finished 14th individually, missing the final, but it was in the mixed team that she came within touching distance of immortality.

Partnering with Anantjeet Singh Naruka, she finished fourth, a single hit shy of the bronze.

“The finals were a flash,” she recalls. “It all went by really fast. The pressure was exciting, but finishing fourth left me numb.

"The pain of not having that medal for my country, for my sport, for myself, comes in waves. In our game, one point is everything, and in that moment, the Chinese were better," she added.

And yet, the pride remains.

“Making a final in skeet was a huge step forward for the sport and for the country,” she says. “It was a huge achievement, and I’m grateful I got to be a part of creating that.”

Reinvention season

Since Paris, Chauhan has been in what she calls “trial-and-error mode.” She is changing her gun – a huge adjustment in a precision sport – and experimenting with tweaks in her technique.

“Some things are working, some aren’t. But this is the time to figure it out,” she says. “Because 2027 will be chaos. Every competition will have quota places. By then, I want to know exactly what works for me.”

She’s aware, too, of what lies immediately ahead: the Asian Games.

“For us as Indian athletes, that’s the biggest event after the Olympics. To medal there would be massive. And before that, I want to win gold at the Asian Championships. That’s the target.”

Roots and rhythm

Chauhan’s story, in some ways, began before she was born. Her grandfather and father were both national-level shooters.

“I grew up around guns, around shooting,” she says. “My family always wanted me to try. As a kid, I thought the gun was too heavy. But by 13, I had started skeet, and by 16, I was in the junior Indian team.”

She calls the sport her “rhythm.”

“Shooting kept me moving forward. It gave me a path, a sense of progress. It took me ten years to make my Olympic dream come true, but I wouldn’t trade that journey for anything.”

Carrying the weight

For all the medals, Maheshwari Chauhan carries something larger – the weight of being the first.

The first Indian woman to stand on a skeet podium internationally. The first to take her country into the thick of an Olympic mixed team final.

Does it feel like pressure?

“Pressure is a privilege,” she says, quoting Billie Jean King. “I take it as motivation. Skeet has never had much visibility in India. But now, with more people watching, more young girls picking it up, I feel proud to have played a part.”

She talks about wanting to keep breaking barriers.

She wants to be in the top five in the world, then number one. And she knows exactly what it will take: patience, persistence, and the humility to keep learning.

“My message to younger shooters is simple,” she says. “Be patient. It takes 10-14 years to become a professional. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Experience is everything.”