Hyderabad’s Esha Singh clinches 2024 Paris Olympic berth with gold medal at Asia Qualifiers

The 19-year-old Esha clinched the top honurs in the women's event with a score of 243.1. Esha also won a team gold along with Rhythm and Surbhi Rao with a combined score of 1736

Hyderabad: Hyderabad shooting sensation Esha Singh on Monday earned 2024 Paris Olympic quota for the country in the women’s 10m air pistol with a gold at the Asia Olympic Qualifiers in Jakarta.

The 19-year-old Esha clinched the top honurs in the women’s event with a score of 243.1. Esha also won a team gold along with Rhythm and Surbhi Rao with a combined score of 1736. Esha is a world championship gold-medallist in the 10m air pistol mixed team and 25m pistol team events. This is India’s 15th Olympic Quota place.

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Ahead of this tournament, India had won 13 Olympic quota places in shooting across rifle, pistol and shotgun disciplines.

Meanwhile, Esha’s father Sachin Singh said that systematic training and discipline have been the key to her success. “Since the age of 13, we have meticulously planned her career. Things like how she will make the transition from the junior to the senior category and go about her shooting,” said Sachin, adding that Esha had won medals in “99 per cent of the competitions” she has competed in.

“We were very confident that sooner or later she was going to earn a Paris Olympic quota. Her systematic training and discipline has ensured that. Since 2019, she has almost always been in the national squad that has left Indian shores, such has been her consistency,” he said of the Khelo India athlete, who trains in Hyderabad at the Gun for Glory academy.

The quota for Esha has also made her eligible to compete in 25m sports pistol at the Olympics if she is selected by the national federation for both events at the quadrennial showpiece