Feb 04, 2026, 15:17 IST
Olympian Esha Singh continued her form from last season by winning the women’s 10m air pistol gold at the Asian Championship on Wednesday. She also helped India secure the team gold on the opening day of the pistol and rifle events.
Esha, 21, came from behind in the final to finish with a score of 239.8. She beat shooters from Chinese Taipei, with Cheng Yen-Ching scoring 235.4 for silver and Yu Ai-Wen finishing third with 217.7. This was Esha’s second senior Asian Championship individual gold. She had earlier won her first continental title in 2024 and also claimed the ISSF World Cup gold in China last year.India’s Suruchi Singh was also in the final but ended in fourth place.She had previously won the season-ending ISSF World Cup gold in Ningbo, China last year and claimed her first continental title in Jakarta in 2024 at 19.Suruchi, 19, led the final after the first 10 shots but fell to fourth place during the elimination round.Manu Bhaker, a Paris Olympics bronze medallist, finished seventh after reaching the final.In qualification, Suruchi placed second with 576, while Manu and Esha both scored 575. Manu qualified ahead of Esha due to a higher inner-10 count.In the team event, Suruchi, Manu and Esha combined for a total score of 1,726 to win gold.Vietnam finished second with 1,713, while Chinese Taipei took third with 1,711.Earlier, world champion Samrat Rana won a bronze medal in the men’s 10m air pistol at the Asian Championship on Wednesday after falling short of his qualification form in the final.India have fielded the largest squad at the championships, with 118 shooters taking part.
