98.6% in Class 12, then the shotgun range: Shooter Aashima Ahlawat’s deal with her mother

At 18, Aashima Ahlawat had a choice to make. She wanted to pursue shooting, but her mother had one condition: prove that sport would not come at the cost of academics.

Ahlawat did just that, scoring 98.6% in her Class 12 board exams. Four years later, the 22-year-old from Rohtak, Haryana, is set to make her Asian Games debut at Aichi-Nagoya 2026.

Her journey into shooting, however, began somewhat differently. Ahlawat initially picked up a pistol at 18, before switching to shotgun. The turning point came after she watched the 2018 Commonwealth Games and saw Indian shooters Manu Bhaker and Heena Sidhu compete.


“Seeing Manu Bhaker and Heena Sidhu on that stage, I remember thinking, I want to feel that someday,” Ahlawat said.

Coming from a family with a construction business, she was not entering a sport where the path was straightforward. Her mother eventually moved from Rohtak to Delhi and shifted the family business to help Ahlawat train.

“My mother didn't just give me permission, she gave up a lot for it,” Ahlawat said. “She moved from Rohtak to Delhi, shifted our family business, just so I could train properly. That's not something I take lightly.”

From an eight-month wait to the international circuit

Even getting started was a challenge. It took Ahlawat nearly eight months to arrange her first shotgun and ammunition.

The setbacks continued on the competition circuit. At the 2024 World Championships in Peru, during her final year as a junior, a miscalculation on the last target cost her a place in the final and left her fourth.

She responded weeks later at the World University Championships in Delhi, winning a bronze medal and setting a personal best.

“A medal is not the only thing that tells you how far you've come,” she said.

Her approach to setbacks is straightforward: identify the mistake, fix it and move on.

“If something doesn't go right, I look for the mistake, fix it, and come back stronger,” she said.

Finding calm one target at a time

Shooting demands concentration as much as technical skill, and Ahlawat says managing her own tendency to overthink has been an important part of her progress.

“I focus on my breathing, and honestly, I just play a random song on loop in my head at the station,” she said. “It's my way of feeling calm and safe in a moment which is otherwise so lonely.”

She credits the National Rifle Association of India with helping her make the transition from a young shooter to an international competitor. Training camps, competitions and access to ammunition have all played a role, she said.

“NRAI has made things so much easier for shooters like me, the camps, the competitions, even something as basic as steady access to ammunition,” Ahlawat said.

“The exposure I have got through NRAI camps these last two years, I don't think I would have grown this fast without it.”

Asian Games debut, Olympic dream

Now, with the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games ahead, Ahlawat is trying not to get carried away by the scale of the occasion.

Her strategy is to keep her focus on each shot rather than the medal at the end of the competition.

“My plan is target by target. I don't want to think about the medal the whole time, I just want to stay present and enjoy the process,” she said.

The Asian Games, however, are not the destination. Ahlawat already has her next target in sight: returning to the national team, earning an Olympic quota and eventually competing at the Olympics.

“The next big goal for me is to make the team again, earn an Olympic quota, and give my best at the Olympics. That's the dream I'm chasing now,” she said.