ISSF World Cup 2026: Indian shooters continue to shine as Esha Singh and Manu Bhaker completed a double podium at the ISSF World Cup 2026. Esha won the gold medal while two-time Olympic medalist Bhaker finished third on the podium.
The 21-year-old won her second gold medal of the season after finishing first at the same event in the Munich World Cup. Meanwhile, for Bhaker, it was her first individual medal of the season, having earlier finished on the podium in only team events.
ISSF World Cup 2026: Who is Esha Singh?
Esha Singh, born on 1st January, 2005, is an Indian shooter. She has represented India at different games, including the Olympics in 2024. It has been a breakout year for the 21-year-old in 2026, having won two gold medals in the Women’s 25m pistol. Earlier in the year, Singh had won Gold at the Asian Championships in the individual and team events.
Esha Singh Early Career
Singh started firing guns at age 14 and the next year won the Telangana state title in the 10m air pistol discipline. In the 62nd National Shooting Championships in Thiruvananthapuram, she beat the Commonwealth Games and Youth Olympics gold medalist Manu Bhaker as well as multi-medalist Heena Sidhu in the 10m air pistol competition and became the youngest ever to win a senior category championship in shooting at just 13 years old. Also, she took golds in the youth and junior categories. In January 2019, Singh secured gold in 10m air pistol at the under-17 level of the second Khelo India Youth Games.
Esha Singh International Career
She won a silver medal in the junior category of Suhl, Germany, ISSF Junior World Cup in 2019 and also two gold medals at the Asian Junior Championships in 10m air pistol (women) and 10m air pistol (mixed team). Singh bagged gold in the Asian Airgun Championships in the junior 10m air pistol women’s category held in Taoyuan, Taiwan in March-April 2019.
In November of the same year, Singh grabbed the gold in individual and mixed team categories with her 20m shooting at the Asian Shooting Championship in Doha (20m – junior). While just 18-years-old, she clinched four medals at the 2022 Asian Games for India; one of them was a gold for the pistol team event, and another was a silver for an individual pistol event. She topped the list of Junior World Champions at the 25m in the 2022 ISSF World Shooting Championships in Cairo.
India had the pleasure of having her represent them in the women’s 25m pistol event of the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she finished in 18th place after a long series of qualification rounds.