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Asian shooting: Esha wins 10m air pistol gold
The 21-year-old shot 239.8 to win the eight-shooter women’s final while Samrat took bronze in the men’s event in Delhi
New Delhi: On a high after a successful 2025 season that saw her bag multiple international medals, pistol shooter Esha Singh unveiled her sublime form into the new season, showing composure to bag the women’s 10m air pistol title at the Asian Championships here on Wednesday.
Esha aggregated 239.8 points – a maximum of 261.6 points are possible – to win the eight-shooter final. She was 4.4 points clear of the next best with Chinese-Taipei’s Cheng Yen-Ching (235.4) and Yu Ai-Wen (217.7) finishing second and third. Compatriots Suruchi Phogat (197.7) and Manu Bhaker (135.3) were fourth and seventh respectively.
It was Esha’s second win in the Asian Championships, having won the title two years ago in Jakarta.
“I am really happy. I had a rough start but once I caught on to my process, I didn’t leave it till the last shot. Even if you have a bad start, I don’t think it’s over till the last shot,” Esha said after her win.
The result follows Esha’s success at last year’s World Championships in Cairo where she won bronze in the 25m event. She also won the 10m gold at the 2025 Ningbo World Cup.
Esha credited her form to repeatability. “Shooting is a very simple game and the more you work on repeating your process, the better you get at it. I stuck to my process. My technique has never really changed much over the years which helps me get into rhythm quickly,” she said.
Having qualified for the final in sixth place, Esha was seventh after the first series of five shots. The 21-year-old clawed her way towards the top and once she found shooting rhythm, she held on. A consistent second series saw her produce a sequence of 10.4, 10, 10.2, 10.8, and 9.8 that placed her fourth. She gradually worked her way up while Suruchi and Manu faded away.
She took the lead after the 16th shot but a 9.4 on the next attempt saw the lead shift to Cheng. But Esha bounced back on the next shot and held the advantage till the end, closing out the competition with a sublime 10.7. Esha will next compete in the 25m event on Monday.
“I’ve got so used to the two events now. I feel one helps the other. It depends from person to person,” said Esha, who is coached by Ronak Pandit.
In the men’s division, reigning world champion Samrat Rana took bronze (220.3) while Sharvan Kumar was fourth (198.6). Uzbekistan’s Vladimir Svechnikov won gold followed by Kazakhstan’s Valeriy Rakhimzhan, who lost out on the last shot.
Rana said: “It’s an incredible feeling. This is the first medal I have won on home soil. The Worlds title is still to sink in, to be honest.”
