Aichi-Nagoya: Indian shooter Esha Singh clinched the silver medal in the women’s 25m pistol event at the 2026 Asian Games on Monday after a tense gold-medal shoot-off against China’s Xiao Jiaruixian.
Esha finished the regulation final with 38 points, level with Xiao, before the Chinese shooter edged her in the second shoot-off. North Korea’s Kim Hyon Suk took bronze with 34 points.
The Indian made an impressive start, converting all five targets in the opening series before adding four hits in the second to stay on top after 10 shots. A three-hit series then saw her slip to second, with Xiao moving ahead on 13 points.
Esha responded with four hits in the following series to draw level at 16 points after 20 shots. The contest remained tightly fought, with Esha and Xiao reaching 20 points after 25 shots while Kim also joined them at the top.
Esha briefly dropped to third in the next phase but recovered strongly with a perfect five-hit series, keeping herself firmly in medal contention. After 40 shots, Xiao and Kim were tied on 32 points, while Esha was just one point behind on 31.
The battle for the podium then went into a shoot-off between Esha and Kim. Both shooters managed three hits in each of the first two rounds, before Esha produced another three-hit effort against Kim’s two to secure silver and send the North Korean to bronze.
Esha then faced Xiao for the gold. With both shooters finishing on 38 points, the title went down to another five-shot shoot-off. Xiao held her nerve to hit three targets, while Esha managed two, handing the Chinese shooter the gold.
The silver takes India’s medal tally at the ongoing Asian Games to 39, with the country having won four gold, 17 silver and 18 bronze medals so far.
