Who is Niraj Kumar? Five facts about the Navy rifle shooter who won World Championships bronze and an LA 2028 quota
Niraj Kumar won bronze in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions at the ISSF World Championship in Doha on 11 November 2026. The 26-year-old Indian Navy shooter from Punjab scored 346.5 in the final after topping qualification with 591-29x. The medal also secured a Los Angeles 2028 Olympic quota place for India.
Navy shooter from Punjab
Niraj Kumar represents the Indian Navy and hails from Beh Mawa village in Hoshiarpur district, Punjab. He first took up shooting through the National Cadet Corps after his father encouraged him to join. He trained at a makeshift NCC range set up in a tent in Talwara and borrowed equipment to compete at the nationals. Strong performances there led to his recruitment by the Navy.
Bronze in 50m rifle 3 positions
The 50m rifle 3 positions event requires shooters to fire from kneeling, prone and standing positions. Niraj’s qualification score of 591-29x placed him first among 50 athletes. In the final, Dmitrii Pimenov, competing as an Individual Neutral Athlete, took gold with a junior world record of 362.8. Slovakia’s Patrik Jany won silver with 357.2. Niraj Kumar finished third with 346.5. He stayed in contention for silver until a 9.4 on his 34th shot, after which Jany pulled ahead with a 10.4.
LA 2028 quota for India
The bronze secured an Olympic quota place at the LA28 Games for India’s National Olympic Committee. It marked India’s second shooting quota from these championships, following Jaypal Malviya’s silver in the men’s 10m air pistol. Three quota places were available in the final.
Because Jany had already earned a quota in the men’s 10m air rifle, and rules limit an athlete to one quota per country, the third place went to Norway’s Jon-Hermann Hegg, who finished fourth with 335.9. The quota belongs to the country, so Niraj Kumar will still need to be selected for the Olympic team.
Team medals this year
India also won bronze in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions team event in Doha with a score of 1,751-91x, finishing behind Czechia and Norway. Niraj competed alongside Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Akhil Sheoran in that team. Earlier this year, he was part of India’s silver medal-winning team in the same event at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.
First individual world medal
The Doha bronze is Niraj Kumar’s first individual medal at a World Championship. He had collected several team medals in previous years and had reached finals in both this year and last year without taking an individual medal. Securing both the medal and the Olympic quota marked a significant personal milestone for the Navy shooter.
