Nagoya: Tied at 580 points each, Esha Singh’s higher count of inner 10s helped her pip Yen-Ching Cheng in the qualification and enter the eight-woman 25m pistol final on Monday.
The world No. 1 had just about done enough to sneak into the final as the eighth qualifier. It was an opportunity the Indian knew she could not squander, especially since the pistol shooters, who arrived in Nagoya with prolific profiles, had secured only one gold from the mixed team until Sunday. But little did Esha know that adding another medal would require her to move mountains.
The 21-year-old from Hyderabad went on to win as many as five shoot-offs before losing the sixth to claim a silver.
After shooting a perfect 5/5 series in the first shoot-off to break into the top three, Esha then held her nerve to win three successive shoot-offs against North Korea’s Kim Hyon Suk to secure a place in the top two.
Later, Esha and China’s Xiao Jiaruixuan both shot 38 in the final series, sending the contest into another shoot-off to decide the winner. Tied again at 4-4, the Indian’s fight ended in her sixth shoot-off of the day when Xiao edged her 3-2 to clinch gold.
“It was amazing and I’ve never had an experience like this before,” said an elated Esha after the medal ceremony at the Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Gallery.
“Definitely, this is going into my bucket of amazing experiences and I’m grateful for every moment. And though it was nerve-wracking, it was amazing. As an athlete, I’m aware that I can get eliminated at any second. When you’re playing, of course, it’s a very distracting thought to get. I was leading in the beginning, but things were not working out the way I wanted them to. But I still kept my focus, fought till the end and I tried my best.”
The world record holder in the event, achieved at the ISSF World Cup in Munich earlier this year, had won four medals at the previous edition of the Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2023.
A considerable dip in that number but the one she managed to win is sure to bring in some relief.
“My hand did end up getting a little tired because nobody who went up to the gold shot as much as I did. I’m going to work on it because I don’t want this to happen again,” said Esha.
Speaking about bouncing back after a disappointing 10m air pistol event a few days ago, where she finished fifth in the final after qualifying third, Esha said remembering the real reason she competed helped put things into perspective.
“I think this competition really made me realize how my surroundings changed. The way I was treated… The conversations I was in. And it was so, so different. It felt like I’m here to win medals and I’m nothing more.
“That day I went back and I just told myself that I don’t owe anybody anything. I don’t play for anybody. I chose this sport because I love it. I chose it because I have passion for it. I was very stubborn with myself that I don’t play for anybody else. Not an audience. Not a team. I love this sport. And that’s why I shoot,” she repeated.
Esha, along with two-time Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker and Rahi Sarnobat, combined for a qualification score of 1727, which was enough only for a fifth place in the team event.
Bhaker, who finished 11th with 579 points in qualification, will return home without a medal.