Nagoya, Sep 28: Indian shooter Esha Singh clinched a silver medal in the Asian Games women’s 25m pistol individual competition, fighting through five shoot-offs at the end of which she missed the gold by one shot here on Monday.
The 21-year-old from Hyderabad, who is the reigning world number one, won three shoot-offs to rise up to silver medal contention before being engaged in two more in the gold medal clash with China’s Xiao Jiaruixuan.
The two shooters ended with scores of 38 at the end of regulation series but Esha faltered in the final shot of the shoot-off to settle for the second spot.
“Yes, I was under pressure and this is the longest match of my career so far. My arms were aching at the end of it,” said the youngster.
North Korea’s Kim Hyon Suk took the bronze after losing the shoot-off to Esha and ending with a score of 34.
Earlier, two-time Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker ended without a medal from the Games after failing to qualify for the final of the event but Esha kept India in the hunt by entering the summit clash at eighth.
Manu could manage a score of 579 that was not good enough to carry her into the final as she finished 11th. Esha scored 580 in the qualification round.
It turned out to be one of the most forgettable multi-discipline campaigns for Manu as she had failed to medal in the women’s 10m air pistol event earlier in the competition.
India were in contention for a medal in the 25m pistol women’s team event as well but Rahi Sarnobat missed a shot at a crucial juncture which proved costly.
Sarnobat had a disastrous score of 39 in the fourth series (each series comprise five shots) and India, who could have finished on the podium, were decisively knocked out of contention. Sarnobat finished 30th with a poor score of 568.
“This is the first time that something like this has happened in my career and I do not know how it happened,” Sarnobat, who won gold in the 2018 Asiad, said. (PTI)
