Esha Singh wins bronze in women’s 25m pistol at Shooting World Championships

Esha Singh won bronze in the women’s 25m pistol at the Shooting World Championships in Cairo, her maiden individual Worlds medal. Manu Bhaker missed out, while India finished third overall with three gold, five silver and four bronze medals

Cairo: Indian shooter Esha Singh clinched her maiden individual World Championship medal — a bronze in the women’s 25m pistol — while Paris Olympics medallist Manu Bhaker once again missed out on a podium finish here Friday.

Esha shot a score of 30 in the final to finish behind China’s Yao Qianxun (silver, 38) and Korea’s reigning Olympic champion Yang Jiin (gold, 40).

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Her effort came as India wrapped up engagements in the 10 Olympic events at the ongoing tournament with a historic haul of one gold, four silver and two bronze medals.

Overall, India lie third on the table with three gold, five silver and four bronze medals, behind leaders China with 10 gold and Korea, who are second with six gold.

Beginning the day in fourth and seventh spots respectively, Esha and double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker shot confident rapid-fire rounds to sail into the top eight with scores of 587 and 586. Esha took fifth while Manu took the sixth qualifying spot in the field of 86.

Yang topped qualifications with 591, which included a stunning 300/300 in the rapid round. Sevval Tarhan of Turkey, Iranian Haniyeh Rostamiyan, France’s Lamolle Mathilde and North Korea’s Kim Hyon Suk also made the final eight.

Rahi Sarnobat’s 572 was not enough for the Indian trio to win a team medal as they finished fourth with a tally of 1745, three short of the bronze-winning French team.

In the final, Yang and Yao broke away early, while the fight for bronze reached a climax when Esha, Manu and Lamolle tied at 23 hits each after the seventh series. Manu exited after managing only two hits, while Esha and Lamolle shot a perfect five.

Esha then struck four to confirm her medal, bowing out after the ninth series as Yang outgunned Yao for gold.

It was Esha’s third individual ISSF medal of the year, having won gold and silver in World Cup stages earlier. Her final international engagement will be at the ISSF World Cup Finals in Doha in December.