Esha Singh is the world No 1 and world record holder in 25m pistol, she won Asian Games medals as a teenager three years ago, she is a former world champion in 10m mixed team - so as she walked into the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Esha was expected to medal. And she did... but few could have predicted the dramatic circumstances under which she won it.
The record books will show Esha won silver in the women's 25m pistol, but for those who witnessed it, it will be her clutch-ness that will live long in the memory. Under pressure from multiple angles, sneaking into the final in the last positions, surviving technical interruptions twice and coming through shoot-off series a whopping five times, Esha was stellar.
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It's important to understand the context before the final even started -- Indian shooting has had a torrid time in Aichi-Nagoya with only 11 medals so far. Esha herself missed out on the final 10m air pistol after a poor qualification. Even in 25m, she struggled by her usual standards and only just made it to the final by virtue of two more bullseyes - a shot closer to the centre of the target. This was a far cry from the in-form Esha who came into the Asiad as one of India's most consistent shooters with two straight ISSF World Cup gold medals and a world record final score achieved in just May this year.
Shooting, more than most other sport, is a battle within and with yourself. It's not just the opponent you are fighting, but your own nerves and heartbeat and thoughts.... While doing mental math and remembering to reset. And then you have to do it again, and again, and again, as your competitors are eliminated every few minutes. In 25m pistol, this whole procedure is at warp speed -- you have to take each shot within 3 seconds, and every series has 5 shots; there is barely any time to breathe and little margin for error in a hit-or-miss scoring system.
But for Esha, who has been shooting since she was 9 years old with a specially made handgun and was a runaway national champion at only 13, this format is literally what she has grown up into. She started her final with a perfect series of 5/5 but after seven series, found herself in the dreaded fourth place after two straight series of 3. How did she respond? In the make-or-break series, she hit a perfect 5/5 to escape fourth place. First step done, medal confirmed. She wouldn't be going home empty-handed.
SILVER FOR BHARAT!
Heartiest congratulations to Esha Singh (TOPS Core Athlete) on winning the Silver Medal in the Women's 25m Pistol Individual event at the #AsianGames2026.
Esha finished with a score of 38, equalling the Asian Games Record, before narrowly missing out in the... pic.twitter.com/QOH6ESfkej
- SAI Media (@Media_SAI) September 28, 2026
Then came the real drama of the final when Esha and Kim Hyon Suk of North Korea were tied on 34 points each - the shoot-off for silver medal. The Indian looked tense through the final... the pressure telling already.
First tiebreaker series - 3/5 for both
Second tiebreaker series - 3/5 for both
Then, the drama was ratcheted up when the third shoot off was paused by the range officer after only 4 shots - there was a technical malfunction, and both had to unload their guns. Mid shoot-off. This could have derailed the momentum of either but Esha held her nerve to win it 3/5, just 1 point the gap between her and gold.
In the gold medal series, Esha missed her first but hit all the other four while China's Xiao Jiaruixian missed two - and the scores were level. Another shoot-off.
First tiebreaker series - 4/5 for both
Second tiebreaker series - 3/5 for Esha: the Indian missed three out of five in the second shoot-off, Xiao missed only two. Silver, then, in one of her most nerve-wracking finals.
For an Indian contingent starved of big medals by the 2023 Asian Games standard, this was a silver won and not a gold missed. For Esha, after striking a blank in her 3 events so far, this was a must-win. A competitive and consistent shooter, not winning any medal would have been devastating. Her father, Sachin Singh, says two of her best qualities are her being target-oriented and having a stable mind in finals. " ...even if she is down at no. 8, you can expect her to come back to win gold. She doesn't withdraw herself out of a game till the last shot," he had told ESPN in the past.
This intense drive was evident in how she won her silver today. The way she held her nerve despite interruptions and malfunctions and shoot-offs was a reminder that at only 21, she is a wizened veteran of many a battle. The numbers and the colour may not be near the high standard Esha has set, but this medal is a much-needed silver lining for India at this Asiad.