Asian Games: Esha Singh wins silver in dramatic 25m pistol final

• Esha Singh wins silver in the women’s 25m pistol at the 2026 Asian Games after a dramatic fightback and multiple shoot-offs against China’s Xiao Jiaruixuan

• The medal is Esha’s third Asian Games silver, following her two silver medals in the 10m air pistol events at Hangzhou 2023

• Esha matched the Asian Games record of 38 hits and remains the world No. 1, while India’s 25m pistol team finished fifth; Manu Bhaker was 11th and Rahi Sarnobat 30th individually

India’s Esha Singh produced a dramatic fightback under pressure to win the silver medal in the women’s 25m pistol event at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on Monday, surviving multiple shoot-offs before finishing second behind China’s Xiao Jiaruixuan.

The medal is Esha’s third silver at the Asian Games. She had previously won silver in the women’s 10m air pistol individual and team events at the 2023 Hangzhou Games.

Esha entered the eight-shooter final only after narrowly making the cut. She finished the qualification round eighth with a score of 580-22x, edging Chinese Taipei’s Yen-Ching Cheng, who also scored 580 but had 20 inner tens.

The Indian quickly put her qualification struggles behind her, opening the final with a perfect 5/5. She remained in medal contention through the early stages as Xiao and North Korea’s Kim Hyon Suk also challenged for the top positions.

The elimination rounds produced several twists. After dropping down the standings with a three-hit series, Esha responded with a flawless 5/5 to stay in contention. She secured a medal when Vietnam’s Trinh Thu Vinh was eliminated.

The fight for bronze then turned into a tense series of shoot-offs between Esha and Kim, who were tied on 34 hits. Both initially managed three hits, forcing another shoot-off. A technical interruption added to the tension before the contest resumed in a single-shot format.

Esha eventually prevailed over Kim to secure at least bronze and advance to the gold-medal contest against Xiao.

The final was equally close. Esha remained within one hit of Xiao before producing four hits to force another shoot-off. Both shooters again recorded four hits, sending the contest into another decider.

With the gold medal at stake, Esha scored two hits while Xiao managed three, handing the Indian silver. Their final totals reached 38 hits, matching the Asian Games record of 38 set by China’s Liu Rui at Hangzhou in 2023.

The silver adds to Esha’s growing record in the event. She currently holds the women’s 25m pistol world record after scoring 43 hits at the Munich World Cup in May and is the reigning world No. 1.

Esha’s individual medal also came after a difficult morning for the Indian women’s 25m pistol team. The trio of double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker, Esha and multiple Asian Games medallist Rahi Sarnobat finished fifth in the team final with a combined score of 1727-56x after a costly target miss.

Esha was the only Indian to reach the individual final. Manu finished 11th, while Rahi was 30th among the 44 competitors. Esha’s qualification score of 580 was enough to make the final only because she had 22 inner tens compared with Cheng’s 20.

With IANS inputs