Stories
From Autorickshaw Accident to Asian Games Gold: Kamaljeet's Remarkable Journey
- •Kamaljeet, along with Suruchi Inder Singh, secured India's first shooting gold at the Asian Games in the 10m air pistol mixed team event.
- •His journey to gold was extraordinary, overcoming a severe autorickshaw accident in 2023 that fractured his thigh bone and killed two co-passengers.
- •Kamaljeet's family, including his contract laborer father, struggled to pay for his month-long hospital stay and treatment for his femur injury.
- •Initially disappointed after missing the individual 10m air pistol final, Kamaljeet received a last-minute call to compete in the mixed team event, seizing the opportunity.
- •The 23-year-old from Rewari, who joined the Army as a Havildar before the Games, fulfilled his ambition of winning a medal at his maiden Asian Games.
Key Questions Answered
In 2023, Kamaljeet suffered a thigh bone fracture in an autorickshaw accident that killed two co-passengers and required a month-long hospital stay funded by borrowed money. Three years later, after joining the Army as a Havildar, he made a remarkable turnaround at the Asian Games by pairing with Suruchi Singh Phogat to win gold in the 10m air pistol mixed team event.
Kamaljeet had finished ninth in the individual men's 10m air pistol qualification and feared leaving his maiden Asian Games without a medal. However, coach Samresh informed him of a last-minute change that brought him into the mixed team event in place of Kedarling Uchaganve, giving him the golden opportunity he capitalized on.
Kamaljeet took up shooting in 2019 after his farmer father encouraged him to pursue a discipline alongside his academics. The 23-year-old from Rewari, Haryana, started with dry-holding a pistol, broke into the Indian team in 2023, and recently joined the Army as a Havildar in the Grenadiers just prior to the Asian Games.
