At the Olympic shooting range in Cairo, the 20-year-old Esha Singh delivered one of the most important performances of her young career. She won her maiden individual senior global medal, taking bronze in the women’s 25m pistol event at the ISSF World Championship Rifle/Pistol 2025 on Friday.
Esha shot a score of 30 to secure bronze in the final, finishing behind South Korea’s Olympic champion Yang Jiin, who took gold with 40 hits, while China’s Yao Qianxun settled for silver with 38 hits. The 20-year-old Indian has added another glittering feather to her career.
With an individual historic bronze in the 25m pistol, a mixed team silver in the 10m air pistol, and a team silver in the women’s 10m air pistol event, this marked her third medal at the ongoing Championship and fourth overall in World Championships as she won gold in the previous edition with Shiva Narwal in the mixed team event.
After the final, speaking to ISSF media, a visibly proud Esha shared her feelings on winning her first-ever senior Worlds medal. “I’m feeling grateful. It was a very tough final. I’m happy and I think my medal was meant to be, because even after the shoot-offs, I did pretty well.”
This medal was even more special for her because she experienced something completely new. “I’ve actually never shot a shoot-off before. This was my first time ever. I fought hard. I did my best, I’m going to work on it and come back stronger,” Esha confessed.
Esha qualified for the final with a score of 587-21X, finishing in fifth place and showing strong control through the rapid-fire round. Her teammate Manu Bhaker also qualified with 586-27X.
In the final, when all the eyes of Indian fans gradually turned to two-time Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker, it was Esha who kept the hopes alive and fought for a medal till the end. After 35 shots, Esha, Manu, and France’s Lamolle Mathilde were tied at 23 hits, pushing for a shoot-off. Manu slipped out of the race to the podium with two hits and returned empty-handed, while Esha shot a perfect five and prevailed in the tense shoot-off.
Throughout the final, Esha showed impressive calmness. When she was asked how she managed such a tense situation, she said, “Pressure helps me perform, so when it does, I convert it into joy. I just enjoyed it.”
In the post-match interview, even the ISSF media person was surprised to learn that this was her first shoot-off of her career. When asked, “First ever shoot-off, literally ever?”
“Yeah, I’ve never really been in such a situation. I’m usually the one waiting when the shoot-off is happening, but I’m never really the one shooting. This time I had a bit of nerves, but it was fun,” Esha said with a smile.
Cairo continues to be a happy hunting ground for Esha as she considers Cairo’s Olympic Shooting Range her “second home range.” She was previously crowned Junior World Champion in the same 25m pistol event here in 2022.
“Yeah, I do enjoy coming to Cairo. I have a lot of memories here, so many medals won here, and I’m very familiar with the range. I think this is like a second home range now. It’s my fifth time here, so I think that familiarity gave me a bit of confidence, because I know how the range looks and winning here boosts my confidence at the end of the day.”
For Esha, the bronze medal in the 25m pistol event was satisfying, especially after she missed out on a medal in the individual 10m air pistol final earlier in the championship, where a poor 8.4 saw her slip down the standings. She acknowledged the desire for gold but was ultimately grateful for the bronze.
“Yeah, in the 10m as well, I did fight hard, but I guess in the 25m I had a little more grit to perform, because I missed out on the medal there. This time I was heading for the gold, but I’m still grateful for my bronze. I’m happy with the overall result,” she said.
This was Esha’s third individual ISSF medal of the year, having won a gold and silver at World Cup stages earlier this season. She now has her sights set on the prestigious World Cup Final in Doha in December.
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