Esha Singh battles pain and five shoot-offs to win Asian Games silver

Esha Singh fought through pain, exhaustion and five nerve-wracking shoot-offs in a gruelling examination of skill and temperament before settling for silver in the women’s 25m pistol at the Asian Games on Monday.

The world No. 1 in the event, the 21-year-old Indian battled an aching arm and shoulder and survived a series of eliminations before eventually losing the gold-medal shoot-off to China’s Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Jiaruixuan Xiao. The two shooters had been locked at 38 hits, equalling the Asian Games record, before the Chinese prevailed.

Five shoot-offs test Esha

The final developed into one of the most dramatic shooting contests of the Games as Esha repeatedly found herself fighting to remain in medal contention. She first survived three shoot-offs against North Korea’s Kim Hyon Suk before being dragged into two more against Xiao in the battle for gold.

Despite the eventual disappointment, Esha described the experience as unlike anything she had encountered before. Her silver was India’s only individual shooting medal of the day and added another major honour to the young shooter’s growing international record.

“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,” Esha said after the final.

From eighth to silver

Esha’s run to the podium was made more remarkable by the circumstances in which she qualified for the final. She shot 290 in the precision stage on Sunday to occupy sixth place before dropping to eighth after the rapid stage on Monday.

Her aggregate score of 580 was just enough to secure the final available place in the eight-shooter medal round. Esha edged out a Chinese Taipei shooter on the basis of inner 10s, recording 22 against her rival’s 20.

From entering as the last qualifier, Esha emerged as the last Indian left in the individual medal contest. She put aside her qualification struggles and repeatedly responded under pressure as the final stretched into a demanding test of concentration and endurance.

Pain adds to challenge

The prolonged contest also took a physical toll, aggravating pain in Esha’s arm and shoulder. She nevertheless remained composed through the successive elimination stages and shoot-offs, keeping herself in contention until the final battle for gold.

The silver added to an already impressive Asian Games record for Esha. At the 2023 Hangzhou Games, she had collected four medals, including individual silver in the 25m sports pistol, team gold in the 25m pistol and silver medals in both the individual and team 10m air pistol events.

Monday’s medal, however, came after an unusually difficult path, with the Indian having to recover from a precarious qualification position before enduring a marathon final.

Bhaker misses final

There was disappointment elsewhere for the Indian shooting contingent as double Olympic bronze medallist Manu Bhaker failed to qualify for the final. Bhaker finished 11th with a score of 579, bringing her campaign at the Games to an end without an individual podium finish.

Veteran Rahi Sarnobat, the 2018 Asian Games champion in the event, finished 30th with 568 after enduring an extraordinary setback during qualification. One of her shots registered a zero after going into the frame on the second day of competition.

The mishap also proved costly for India in the team competition. Esha, Bhaker and Sarnobat finished fifth with an aggregate score of 1727, missing out on a medal.

Costly zero hurts India

China won the team gold with a combined 1743, while South Korea secured silver with 1735 and Chinese Taipei took bronze with 1734. The margins underlined the impact of Sarnobat’s zero, with a score of 10 on that shot potentially taking India’s total to 1737, which would have put the team above the eventual silver-medal score.

For Sarnobat, who had missed the Hangzhou Asian Games because of illness before fighting her way back into the national team, the incident was particularly difficult to process. The 35-year-old said she had never experienced such an occurrence before, even in training.

“When it affects your fellow shooters as well, then it gets difficult even further to process,” Sarnobat said. She added that she needed time to come to terms with an incident she had never previously encountered in her career.

Amid the disappointment surrounding India’s team result and Bhaker’s failure to reach the final, Esha’s silver provided the standout performance of the day. From scraping into the final as the eighth qualifier to matching the Games record and fighting through five shoot-offs, the 21-year-old turned a difficult qualification campaign into a memorable podium finish.