ISSF Shooting: Was focussed on my game, says Esha Singh
Hyderabad: It was business as usual for 17-year-old shooting prodigy from Telangana Esha Singh at the ISSF Shooting World Cup in Cairo. Taking part in her first tournament in the senior category, that too in an event like the World Cup, Esha showed nerves of steel to clinch the silver medal. The fact that she […]
Hyderabad: It was business as usual for 17-year-old shooting prodigy from Telangana Esha Singh at the ISSF Shooting World Cup in Cairo. Taking part in her first tournament in the senior category, that too in an event like the World Cup, Esha showed nerves of steel to clinch the silver medal.
The fact that she is just 17 and competing against gold and silver medallists from the Tokyo Olympics makes her achievement credible. When asked about her game plan against such top-level shooters, Esha said, “I was not looking at who is standing next to me or what they have achieved. I just played my game and enjoyed myself. I am very excited that I won a silver for the country in my maiden World Cup. This being my first tournament in the senior category makes it even more special.”
Competing in the 80-strong field which had the likes of Olympic medallists Korakaki and Vitalina Batsarashkina of Russia, the Hyderabad girl finished sixth in the qualifying round to make it to the semi-finals. She then trumped Korakaki and Batsarashkina to top with 41.5 points to enter the medal round where she faced the likes of Olympic champion Antoaneta Kostadinova of Bulgaria and Sandra Reitz of Germany.
On her plans for the World Cup, she said, “We had a good 10-day camp in New Delhi before the World Cup. My plan was to just play my game and give my best. I kept my focus and it was like participating in any other tournament. I did not do anything different.”
Esha said over the last two-and-half years she got to understand her game better as there were not many tournaments being held owing to the pandemic. “I took it as a good break. I have been shooting since the age of nine, participating in tournaments, and also training. It was a good break to work on and understand my game better,” she said.
Starting early, when she was barely nine, Esha recalled her visit to the shooting range at Gachibowli along with her father and said that she simply fell in love with the sport and decided to pursue it seriously. She then joined Gagan Narang’s Gun for Glory academy in Pune. She proved her mettle pretty early in her career winning medals at the State level and then at the nationals.
With their house in Marredpally and the shooting range located in Gachibowli, travel had become hectic for Esha. With the help of his friends, Esha’s father Sachin built a 10m air pistol shooting range at their home so that she could focus on training unhindered.
In 2018 Esha became the youngest national champion at the age of 13, at Thiruvananthapuram. She then became the youngest Indian medallist when she bagged a medal at the 2019 Asian Airgun Championship in Taiwan. She went on to bag a silver medal in the Junior World Cup in 2021 in Lima and her rise in the game put Esha in the Indian core team for the Tokyo Olympics.
Speaking of his daughter’s performance in the World Cup Sachin said, “We are elated. Defeating Olympic medallists and winning a silver in the World Cup at 17 is a great achievement.”
Sports Authority of Telangana State (SATS) chairman A Venkateshwar Reddy also lauded Esha’s efforts and added that she is destined to bring more laurels for the country in the future.
Meanwhile, Gagan Narang too had a word of praise for Esha’s efforts. “We knew when we first saw her at our academy that she had a lot of potential. She was picked to train under a foreign coach and we supported her and provided the ecosystem. She definitely has a lot of potential to go far.”
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