On Wednesday, February 4, India’s Esha Singh bagged the gold medal on the opening day of the Asian Rifle/Pistol Championship held at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range. The Indian won in the women’s 10m Air Pistol event with a score of 239.8 points. Meanwhile, Chinese Taipei’s Cheng Yen-Ching (235.4) and Yu Ai-Wen (217.7) finished with silver and bronze medals, respectively.
The victory gave Esha her second career gold in the Asian Championship. She won her first Asian gold in Jakarta back in 2024. Following the win, Esha, during an interview with The Bridge, shared that playing on the home field sort of benefited her. Meanwhile, the lighting of the venue somehow challenged her gameplay, but she fought against it and emerged the winner.
She said, “I am happy that I could get my country’s flag up high. Playing on your homeground has its own kind of pressure, but it also gives you a familiar feeling because you know how the range is.”
“In the Delhi final hall range, the lighting is a bit difficult to shoot in. It’s very challenging. Today, I almost couldn’t see the target much, but I just followed my process. I trusted where my hand was stopping, and that’s how I was shooting,” she added.
With Esha climbing the leaderboard, the opening day for the other Indian shooters was a bit different. Suruchi Singh finished fourth with 197.7 points, while Manu Bhaker ended in seventh place with 135.3 points. Meanwhile, the Indian trio, through their combined score of 1726 points, won the team gold.
In the men’s event, India’s reigning world champion Samrat Rana got bronze in the 10m air pistol with a score of 220.3. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s Valeriy Rakhimzan settled for silver, while Uzbekistan’s Vladimir Svechnikov won the gold. Samrat, along with his Indian teammates Sharvan Kumar and Varun Tomar, won silver in the air pistol team event.
India’s prolific run followed in the 10m air pistol junior men’s event, with Jonathan Gavin Antony winning the gold with a score of 240.9. In addition to that, he won another gold in the team event alongside Chirag Sharma and Priyanshu Yadav. On the other hand, in the 10m air pistol men youth final, Dhairya Parashar and Mandeep Chauhan won gold and silver, respectively. The two, along with Girish Gupta, then went on to win the team gold.
On the opening day of the Asian Rifle/Pistol Championship, India secured a total of nine medals, including six golds and two silvers.
(Inputs sourced from The Bridge)
