Esha Singh shoots down 10m pistol gold at Asian meet; Manu Bhaker falls short

Olympian Esha Singh won the gold medal in the women’s 10m air pistol individual event at the Asian Shooting Championship 2026, while Samrat Rana, the reigning world champion in the men’s event, settled for bronze in New Delhi on Wednesday.

India also claimed a team gold medal in the women’s 10m air pistol and silver in the men’s event at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, taking their tally of medals to four, two gold, one silver and one bronze.

Hyderabad shooter Esha Singh, an Asian Games silver medallist and a Paris 2024 Olympian, held her nerve in the women’s 10m air pistol final for her second individual gold medal at the Asian Shooting Championships, finishing with 239.8 points.  Chinese Taipei’s Cheng Yen-Ching finished with 235.4 to take silver, while her compatriot Yu Ai-Wen secured bronze with 217.7.

Chinese Taipei silver and bronze medalists’ Cheng Yen-Ching and Yu Ai-Wen take a selfie with gold medalist Esha Singh 

The 21-year-old Esha Singh also won the individual gold medal at the Asian Championships 2024 in the same shooting category.

World No. 2 Suruchi Inder Singh also kept India firmly in the mix, finishing fourth with 197.7 after staying within striking distance for much of the final.

However, Manu Bhaker ended seventh after an early dip halted her charge. She will also compete in the 25m pistol and 10m mixed team event.

Earlier in the day, Suruchi Singh (576 points) led India’s strong show in the qualifying round alongside Manu Bhaker (575) and Esha Singh (575) to help the hosts win the gold medal in the team event with a total of 1726.

Sainyam topped the qualifying round with a score of 584 but she was competing for Ranking Points Only (RPO).

Samrat Rana clinches bronze

In the men’s 10m air pistol event, India’s Samrat Rana clinched the bronze medal with 220.3 points.

Rana started with 49.6 in the first competition stage and was sharp through the middle passage of the final, reeling off a sequence of 10.6s, 10.8s and 10.3s to keep himself comfortably in medal contention.

His shots during the second stage helped him stay ahead of compatriot Sharvan Kumar, who eventually bowed out in fourth with a final score of 198.6. Uzbekistan’s Vladimir Svechnikov won the gold medal with 242.0 points while Kazakhstan’s Valeriy Rakhimzhan settled for silver with a total of 241.0.

In the qualification round, Samrat Rana (581), Sharvan Kumar (578) and world No. 2 Varun Tomar (573) combined for a total of 1732 to deliver silver for India in the team event.

(Source: olympics.com)