India’s Esha Singh missed the gold medal in the women’s 25m pistol shooting event by the barest of margins at the Asian Games 2026 on Monday, settling for silver after a dramatic shoot-off.
In the final, Esha and the People’s Republic of China’s Xiao Jiaruixuan were tied on 38 hits after 50 shots, equalling the Asian Games record, to force a shoot-off for gold.
Both hit four of their five targets in the first shoot-off before Xiao edged the second 3-2 to take the title at the Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Gallery.
The silver was hard-earned for Esha Singh, who opened the final with a perfect five hits but endured several swings in position as the eliminations began.
After 45 shots, she was tied with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s Kim Hyon Suk on 34, one behind Xiao. Esha and Kim could not be separated in their first two shoot-off series before the Indian finally prevailed 3-2 in the third to secure at least silver.
Esha then produced four hits in the final five-shot series while Xiao managed three, bringing the scores level at 38 and setting up the shoot-off for gold.
Xiao ultimately prevailed, while Kim took bronze with 34.
For Esha Singh, it was a second successive Asian Games silver medal in the women’s 25m pistol. She had finished runner-up at Hangzhou 2023 after helping India win the team gold alongside Manu Bhaker and Rhythm Sangwan.
Earlier on Monday, Esha had squeezed into the eight-shooter final in the last qualifying spot with 580-22x. She finished level on points with Chinese Taipei’s Cheng Yen-Ching but advanced on the higher inner-10 count.
No medal for Manu Bhaker at Asian Games 2026
Manu Bhaker, meanwhile, shot 579-18x to finish 11th and missed the individual final. Rahi Sarnobat was 30th with 568-16x.
The results also left India fifth in the women’s 25m pistol team event with 1727-56x. China won gold with 1743-68x, the Republic of Korea took silver and Chinese Taipei bronze.
Despite competing in four events, Manu Bhaker will return from the Asian Games 2026 without a medal.
She finished fifth in the 10m air pistol final after qualifying third, while India placed fourth in the corresponding team event. She then missed the 25m pistol final and India finished fifth in the team competition.
Manu had been part of India’s gold medal-winning women’s 25m pistol team in Hangzhou, where she also finished fifth in the individual final.
