Shooting World Cup: Esha Singh Secures Silver in Women’s 25m Pistol, India's Third Medal
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Synopsis
On April 5, Esha Singh won her second silver medal at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi, finishing with a score of 35 in the women's 25m pistol final. This marks India's third medal in the competition, following a bronze and a gold won earlier in the event.
Key Takeaways
- Esha Singh won silver in women's 25m pistol.
- India has secured one medal of each color at the ISSF World Cup.
- Manu Bhaker finished sixth in the same event.
- India's skeet shooters faced early elimination.
- The competition took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
New Delhi, April 5 (NationPress) Esha Singh, the reigning Air Pistol Mixed Team world champion, has clinched her second individual silver medal at the ISSF World Cup, accumulating a score of 35 in the women’s 25m pistol final. She finished behind Sun Yujie from China, who took gold with 38 hits following the 10th and final five-shot series.
Feng Sixuan, another Chinese competitor, secured the bronze medal at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) event held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Double Olympic medalist Manu Bhaker, who also participated in the final, ultimately placed sixth.
With this achievement, India has now earned one medal of each color at the ongoing ISSF World Cup for Rifle, Pistol, and Shotgun, having already seen Chain Singh win bronze in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions (3P) and Sift Kaur Samra claim gold in the women’s 3P on Friday.
On Saturday morning, the Indian shooters needed to qualify for the final eight. Manu, who was positioned fourth overnight, delivered an impressive score of 294 in the second rapid-fire round, securing third place with an overall total of 585. The competitor who edged Manu out for third place at the Paris Olympics, Veronika Major from Hungary, topped the qualification with a score of 587.
Esha also performed exceptionally well, scoring 294 in rapid-fire, which gave her a total of 579, sufficient to guarantee that two Indians would compete in the final. The third Indian, Simranpreet Kaur Brar, struggled during the initial rapid-fire series and did not qualify, finishing with a score of 576.
Manu began the final strongly, achieving a perfect five in the third series, allowing her to join the lead alongside the two Chinese shooters, Sun and Feng. Esha began to find her rhythm in the third series, scoring four hits to climb from seventh to joint fourth.
What came next was remarkable for the young shooter from Hyderabad, as she dominated the fifth, sixth, and seventh series, propelling herself into second place, just one hit behind Sun.
As prominent competitors like Tien Chia-Chen of Chinese Taipei, Doreen Vennekamp of Germany, and Manu faltered, the competition narrowed down to Sun and Esha, with Sun ultimately finishing strong to secure a well-deserved gold. Feng triumphed in a three-way shoot-off to earn another podium finish for the Chinese team. Manu also faced a shoot-off against Tien, scoring one hit compared to Tien’s two.
Skeet challenge extinguished
India's hopes in the men’s and women’s skeet events were eliminated at the qualification stage. Raiza Dhillon posted a score of 116, finishing 11th in the women’s skeet, while Ganemat Sekhon (114) and Darshna Rathore (112) placed 14th and 17th, respectively.
In the men’s skeet, Anantjeet Singh Naruka achieved the highest ranking among Indian shooters, finishing 20th with a score of 116. Bhavtegh Gill was just behind at the same score, while Gurjoat Khangura ended 22nd with a total of 115.
