Esha Singh Wins Asian Games Silver After Dramatic Final
India’s Esha Singh won the silver medal in the women’s 25m pistol event at the Asian Games in Nagoya on Monday after an exhausting final that tested her physical endurance and mental strength.
The 21-year-old, ranked world No. 1 in the event, endured pain in her arm and shoulder while surviving multiple shoot-offs before losing to China’s Jiaruixuan Xiao in the battle for gold.
Esha’s silver was India’s only individual shooting medal of the day, capping a remarkable comeback after she barely qualified for the eight-shooter final.
Esha Singh Survives Five Shoot-Offs
The final turned into a gripping contest as Esha faced repeated eliminations and fought to remain in medal contention.
She first survived three shoot-offs against Vietnam’s Trinh Thu Vinh before entering two more against Xiao in the battle for gold.
The Indian and the Chinese shooter were locked at 38 hits, equalling the Asian Games record, before Xiao eventually secured the gold medal.
Despite missing out on the top spot, Esha described the experience as one of the most memorable of her career.
“It was amazing and I have never had an experience like this before. Definitely going into my bucket of amazing experiences and I am grateful for every moment. Though it was nerve-wracking, it was amazing, yeah,” she said.
The silver added to Esha’s impressive Asian Games record. At the 2023 Hangzhou edition, she won four medals, including silver in the individual 25m sports pistol, gold in the team 25m pistol and two silver medals in the 10m air pistol events.
From Last Qualifier To Silver Medallist
Esha’s journey to the podium was particularly remarkable given her struggles in qualification.
She shot 290 in the precision stage on Sunday to sit sixth before slipping to eighth after the rapid stage on Monday.
Her aggregate of 580 was just enough to secure the final available place in the eight-shooter final. She edged out a Chinese Taipei shooter on the basis of inner 10s, recording 22 compared to her rival’s 20.
From the last qualifier to the silver medallist, Esha refused to let her difficult start define her campaign.
The prolonged competition aggravated the pain in her arm and shoulder, but she continued to hold her nerve through repeated eliminations and remained in contention until the final shoot-off.
Manu Bhaker Misses Final, Rahi Sarnobat Finishes 30th
India’s other pistol shooters endured a difficult day at the Asian Games.
Double Olympic bronze medallist Manu Bhaker finished 11th in qualification with a score of 579, missing out on the women’s 25m pistol final.
Veteran Rahi Sarnobat, the 2018 Asian Games champion in the event, finished 30th with 568.
Sarnobat also suffered a costly mishap during qualification when one of her shots registered zero after hitting the frame. The error affected India’s team medal prospects, with the trio of Esha, Manu and Sarnobat slipping from third to fifth in the standings.
India finished with an aggregate of 1727, while China won team gold with 1743. South Korea secured silver with 1735, and Chinese Taipei took bronze with 1734.
A 10 from Sarnobat instead of the zero would have lifted India’s tally to 1737, enough for silver.
Sarnobat Struggles To Process Costly Error
The incident was particularly difficult for Sarnobat, who missed the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games due to illness and had worked her way back into the national team after a serious health setback.
The 35-year-old said she had never experienced anything similar during her career or training.
“When it affects your fellow shooters as well, then it gets difficult even further to process. But, yeah, I think we see such things in lots of sports, that sometimes the rules are so weird that you cannot really do anything beyond that,” she said.
Sarnobat added that she needed time to understand what had happened and process its impact on the team.
