Esha Singh Leads India To 25m Pistol World Gold
Esha Singh guided India to the women’s 25m pistol team gold at the ISSF World Championships in Doha on Tuesday. The 21-year-old also qualified for the individual final alongside double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker, keeping India’s hopes of securing another Los Angeles 2028 Olympic quota place alive.
Esha topped the Indian shooters in qualification with 590 points. Manu scored 587, while Divya Subbaraju added 584 as India finished with a combined score of 1761.
South Korea claimed silver with 1748 points, while Vietnam took bronze with 1745.
Esha And Manu Enter Individual Final
Esha finished third in the individual qualification standings to book her place in the eight-shooter final. Germany’s Doreen Vennekamp topped the field with 592, equalling the Olympic record, while Hungary’s Veronika Major secured second place with 591.
Manu also recovered from a difficult start to finish sixth with 587 points. Divya narrowly missed the final, ending qualification in 10th position.
Esha’s strong performance came in Tuesday’s Rapid round, where she produced series of 100, 98 and 100 for a total of 298. She had scored 292 in Monday’s Precision round.
Manu also improved considerably in the Rapid round, shooting 99, 99 and 100 after managing 289 in the Precision stage.
India Eye More Los Angeles Olympic Quotas
The individual event offers another opportunity for India to secure a quota place for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The three medallists will earn quota places for their respective countries, meaning India could add two if both Esha and Manu finish on the podium.
Jaypal Malviya has already secured India’s first quota place at the championships after winning silver in the men’s 10m air pistol event.
The women’s team gold and the presence of two Indian shooters in the individual final provide a boost to the campaign, which has otherwise seen inconsistent performances, particularly in rifle events. The championships have also been overshadowed by the controversy surrounding rifle shooter Sambhavi Kshirsagar’s disqualification.
