New Delhi, May 28: Olympian Esha Singh made headlines on Wednesday by setting a world record in the Women’s 25m Pistol event at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Munich. She achieved a remarkable score of 43, which also stands as the junior world record, securing the gold medal. This was India’s first medal at the Munich World Cup after two days of competition.
The three-time world champion and two-time Asian Games medalist delivered an outstanding performance in the finals, hitting perfect five shots in half of the ten series of five shots each. Doreen Vennekamp, the former world champion, trailed behind, settling for the silver medal. Bulgaria’s Miroslava Mincheva claimed the bronze, while the reigning Olympic champion Yang Jin finished in fifth place.
This victory marks the fourth individual World Cup medal for the 21-year-old Indian shooter. Esha scored 294 in the qualification rapid-fire round. After scoring 293 in the precision round on Tuesday, she secured fourth place in qualification with a total of 587 points. Fellow countrymen Manu Bhaker and Rahi Sarnobat scored 582 and 581, finishing in 12th and 14th places among 98 competitors.
In the finals, Esha started strong, achieving three consecutive ‘perfect fives’ in the first three series, significantly extending her lead over the other eight competitors. Doreen was her closest rival, trailing by 12 points, while Vietnam’s Trinh Thu Vinh was in third place with ten hits.
Esha missed her first shot in the fourth series, which was also the first elimination phase, yet she remained four points ahead of Doreen. Meanwhile, Olympic champion Yang moved up to third place with a ‘perfect five.’
In the sixth and eighth series, Esha again hit all five targets accurately. With the medal secured, her focus shifted to breaking the world record. She concluded her performance with scores of four and three in the final shots, surpassing the previous record of 42 hits set by Korea’s Kim Yaeji in Baku two years ago. She also eclipsed Yang Jin’s junior world record of 41 hits.
In the Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions event, Aashi Choukse narrowly missed reaching the finals by just one point, finishing effectively in 10th place with a score of 589 among 70 shooters, ranking 12th overall.
Norway’s Jeanette Hegg Duestad won the gold medal by defeating the UK’s Sionaid McIntosh, while the host nation’s Anna Janssen secured the bronze. Other Indian participants in the women’s 3 positions event included Vidarsha Vinod, who scored 588 and placed 14th overall, and Tilottama Sen, who finished 48th with a score of 583.
On Thursday, the third day of the Munich World Cup will feature only one final event, the Women’s 10m Air Rifle, where India will look to its Olympians Elavenil Valarivan, Arya Borse, and debutant Sakshi Padekar for potential medals.
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