India clinched their third medal at the ISSF World Cup, in Argentina, with Esha Singh winning a silver in the Women’s 25m Pistol event, scoring 35 points — just three behind the gold medallist. The reigning Air Pistol Mixed Team World Champion, and four-time Asian Games medallist from Hangzhou, secured her first individual 25m Pistol medal at an ISSF World Cup with this performance. Earlier, she had won two gold medals in the team events and an individual silver in the 10m Air Pistol event, all in Cairo World Cup, 2022. This silver in Buenos Aires marked her 4th overall medal in the ISSF World Cup.
Three Indian shooters were in contention during the qualification rounds. Paris Olympics double-medallist Manu Bhaker finished third in the qualifiers with a total of 585-19x (after the Rapid stage held on Saturday). Esha ranked 9th with a score of 579-15x, but due to two Chinese shooters, Yao Qianxun and Zu Pengwen, competing under Ranking Points Only (RPO) status, Esha advanced to the final. The third Indian, Simranpreet Kaur Brar, did not make the cut for the finals.
Esha had a modest start in the first competition stage, scoring 2 and 3 initially, and finishing the stage with a total of 13 points (series of 2, 3, 4, 4). China’s Sun Yujie, who eventually took the gold, led the stage with 17 points. Fellow Chinese shooter Feng Sixuan followed with 16, while Bhaker stood at 15.
Esha’s comeback began in the second competition stage — the elimination round — where she shot three consecutive perfect rounds, closing the gap with Yujie. Bhaker, however, was eliminated by Germany’s Doreen Vennekamp and finished 6th. In the final three shots, Esha scored 2, 3, and 3, finishing with 35 points — five more than Feng Sixuan and three behind Yujie — to secure the silver medal.
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Back in Hyderabad, Esha’s family celebrated the victory with great joy. Speaking to RevSportz, her father Sachin Singh said, “We’re celebrating this victory as equal to an Olympic medal. She defeated Paris 2024 bronze-medallist and World No. 1, Doreen. It was an overall great match.”
Esha, who did not make the podium in Paris 2024, had taken a six-month break before beginning her preparations for the World Cup. “Her preparations were at the same level as they were for the Olympics,” Sachin remarked. “We spoke to her after the win and she was very excited. It’s a great start to the season after a long break, and this will be a great boost to her confidence going forward.”
In a post-match interview with ISSF, Esha expressed her thoughts on the challenging conditions in Buenos Aires and her performance. “Really happy, I could win the medal. It’s my favourite event — the 25m Pistol,” she said.
“It was a bit of a struggle with the weather — quite cold and windy yesterday — nothing like I had experienced before. But such conditions make you stronger. The start didn’t go as expected and I couldn’t figure out what was going on. But once the first round was done, I caught on, stayed in my zone, and I’m happy I could do it.”
“I didn’t have too much confidence, nor too little. I went in with an open mind and wanted to fight for it,” Esha signed off.
With this medal, India’s tally now features one medal each of every colour, sitting at the 2nd spot behind China.
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