Vidarsa K Vinod is set to make her Asian Games debut at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games in Japan

When Vidarsa K Vinod walked into an NCC shooting trial at her college in Kozhikode in 2018, she wanted to experience what it felt like to hold a rifle. Eight years later, that casual decision has taken the Kerala shooter to the biggest stage of her career. Vinod is set to make her Asian Games debut in Aichi-Nagoya, representing India in the women’s 10m air rifle and 50m rifle 3 positions events.Her journey, however, was anything but straightforward. For years, she trained without owning the equipment needed to compete seriously. She relied on NCC and borrowed rifles, dealt with the financial demands of shooting and even came close to quitting before finally breaking through.

She entered shooting almost by chance

According to The Indian Express, Vinod had no formal shooting training when she appeared for the NCC trial in 2018. She performed well enough to make the NCC team and soon progressed to the Kerala state team. A year later, she became the aggregate champion at the Kerala State Shooting Championship. But becoming a serious shooter required something she did not have: her own rifle.Competitive shooting is an expensive sport, with the cost of a rifle coming before expenses such as jackets and ammunition. For Vinod, that financial barrier remained a constant problem. The Covid-19 pandemic made matters worse, bringing her training to a halt.For nearly a year, she stayed away from the range and practised yoga and exercises at home. Even before that, she had been relying on borrowed or NCC equipment. Yet despite not owning a rifle, she rose to No. 1 in Kerala, according to The Indian Express.

Vidarsa K Vinod’s family took a loan in 2021 to help her buy her first rifle, a crucial step in her journey towards international shooting.

A question changed her career

The turning point came through another shooter, Manu S Ravi, who later became her husband. After the pandemic, he asked her a simple question: why did she not own a rifle? For Vinod, the answer was obvious- she could not afford one.But the question forced her to reconsider how seriously she wanted to pursue shooting. According to India Today, Vinod discussed the matter with her parents, and in 2021 her family took a loan to buy her first rifle.The investment eventually began to pay off. With Manu’s encouragement and training under coach Manoj Kumar, her performances improved and she won her first national medal in 2022.

From Kerala to Delhi

Vinod moved to New Delhi to train at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, entering a more demanding training environment. It meant living alone in an unfamiliar city while managing cooking, household responsibilities and intensive training sessions.In early 2024, after a series of near-misses and mounting financial strain, Vinod came close to walking away from shooting. She felt that her family, husband and coach had already sacrificed too much for her career. But they continued to back her, even when she had begun to doubt herself.

Coach Manoj Kumar helped her adapt to a lighter rifle that she now uses in competition.

A rifle that was never meant to be hers

There was another unusual twist in her equipment story. Vinod was struggling with the weight of her rifle, and coach Manoj Kumar suggested that she try a lighter model he had imported for his daughter. As per reports, Kumar's daughter ultimately chose to focus on studies, so he allowed Vinod to test the rifle.She initially refused because the rifle had been bought for his daughter. After trying it for a few days, however, Kumar told her to keep it. That lightweight rifle is now the one Vinod will carry into the Asian Games.Kumar told The Indian Express that Vinod was quick to learn and willing to accept the technical changes he introduced. Their association has continued for several years and has become an important part of her development as a shooter.

From her first international medal to the Asian Games

The breakthrough at the international level came in 2025. Vinod represented India at the Asian Shooting Championships in Kazakhstan and won a silver medal in the team event, according to The Times of India. Since then, she has competed at three ISSF World Cups, two Asian Championships and a World Championship. She also finished sixth at a recent World Cup. Her maiden international medal at the 2025 Asian Shooting Championship helped pave the way for her selection for the Asian Games squad.Now, the woman who once borrowed rifles to continue competing is preparing to take aim for India at the Asian Games. But Vinod is not setting herself a medal target. Speaking to The Times of India, she said her coach's advice has been to focus on experiencing and learning rather than chasing the podium. The emphasis, she said, is on preparing for a longer period rather than treating the Asian Games as a single defining competition. In 2018, she had walked into an NCC trial simply to hold a rifle. Today, that rifle has taken her all the way to the Asian Games.