Esha nails women’s air pistol gold to end India’s medal drought at ISSF WC

Olympian and reigning mixed team pistol world champion Esha Singh ended India’s medal drought at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol in Ningbo, China, in style, by bagging a gold in women’s 10m air pistol on Saturday.

The rising Indian shooter left home favourite and in-form Yao Qianxun 0.1 behind in the final held at the Ningbo Olympic Sports Centre. Reigning Olympic champion in the event, Oh Yejin of Korea, had to settle for bronze.

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Thrilled with winning a first-ever World Cup gold in the event, Esha said after the final, “I am very happy as air is the first event that I started with and to win a World Cup gold in it…I am just happy that some of my goals are being reached.”

Also speaking on the challenges ahead, she said, “Yes, obviously, the world championship is the next big one for the year. We are training very hard for it, and I am sure you will see very good things from the Indian team in Cairo.”

She also spoke about her final mindset, saying, “Yes I am aware of things like India has not won a medal yet and that there are great shooters in the field, but I have played many finals against these guys and it’s them all the time so I now know that the pistol is in my hand and the battle is with me so I try to enjoy the match as much as possible.”

The morning offered little hint of what was to come, but two Indians, Esha and Rhythm Sangwan, rose to the occasion by sealing the last two spots in the women’s air pistol final with identical scores of 578. At the top, China’s Yao, who has medalled at every World Cup and the Asian Championship this year, led the field with 584. Adding to the intrigue, reigning Asian Games champion Palak Gulia, competing only for ranking points, outshot everyone with a stellar 586, surpassing both Yao and her compatriots. The third Indian in the fray, Surbhi Rao, managed 568 to finish 25th overall.

In the eight-woman final, however, both Indians began strong and after the first five-shot series, Rhythm was on top with Esha in second, and Veronica Major, Hungary’s Paris Olympic medalist, was in chase.

After the second series, Esha went on top, 0.2 ahead of Major, while Rhythm was down to fifth, a position they would finish with at the end of the final. As the single-shots began, pressure even got to the Olympic champion as she went into the lower 8s on her 11th as Esha and Rhythm held their positions at the first elimination point after the 12th. China’s 19-year-old Zeng was the first to bow out.

Esha fired another strong 10.8 for her 13th and as eliminations started coming thick and fast, Rhythm also shot a big 10.8 for her 15th to move up to fourth momentarily. But even though she bettered the experienced Vietnamese Thu Vinh Trinh and women’s pistol legend Zorana Arunovic of Serbia, she could not progress beyond the 18th shot of the 24-shot final.

With six to go, Esha had a lead of 1.1, but Yao brought that down to 0.6 after the 19th shot. Esha, a very strong finalist traditionally, responded with back-to-back 10.7s to hold on professionally, taking the win by the narrowest margin of 0.1 in the end. She shot a final score of 242.6.

In the day’s second event, Bhavesh Shekhawat finished 22nd in the men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol with a qualification round score of 575. Compatriot Pradeep Singh Shekhawat was a spot behind with the same score, while Mandeep Singh was further back in 39th with 562.

With Esha’s gold, India are now fifth on the medal tally and among the five nations that have won gold in Ningbo so far. Hosts China top the tally with two gold, four silver, and one bronze medal. India have fielded their fourth-sixth nationally ranked shooters in each event at the Ningbo World Cup.