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Esha Singh etched her name in history when she won gold alongside Manu Bhaker and Rhythm Sangwan in the 25m pistol team event at the 2023 Asian Games on September 27.
Esha Singh has already become a dominant name in the sport at the age of 18. Born in 2005, she began shooting in 2014 and in 2015 became the Telangana state champion in the 10m air pistol category. Her rise started when she won gold at the 62nd National Shooting Championships in 2018 at just the age of 13.
The 18-year-old was born in Hyderabad. Her father was a rally driver and the young shooter's whole childhood revolved around the racetrack. She delved into many sports such as badminton and tennis, before finally settling for shooting. Esha talked about how she got into the sport:
It was a Sunday morning and I was nine years old, and he was going out with his friends. Since it was Sunday and I had no school, I told him I would go along with him. That's when we went to the shooting range and I saw shooting for the first time. My uncle, who was the shooter there, he asked me to try my hand at it. It was a very different kind of a sport. That's how I got into it.
Esha Singh rise in Shooting
Esha Singh first rose to prominence when she beat Commonwealth Games and Youth Olympics gold-medallist Manu Bhaker and multi-medallist Heena Sidhu in the 62nd National Shooting Championships in 2018 by winning gold in the 10m air pistol event. She became the youngest champion in the senior category, winning the title at just 13 years old.
Her performances at the national level led to her debut on the international circuit. She represented India at the 2019 ISSF Junior World Cup in Germany, where she won silver in the 10m air pistol women. She also won a bronze medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team event.
She managed to carry on her impressive performances to the senior stage, where she won gold in the 10m air pistol mixed team and 25m pistol team at the 2023 world championships held in Baku.
Her biggest performance came at the Asian Games this year alongside Manu Bhaker and Rhythm Sangwan, where the trio managed to fend off a Chinese challenge by three points and win gold in the women’s 25m pistol team.
Manu, Esha, and Rhythm totaled 1759 to finish on top of the podium winning India’s fourth gold at this year’s Asian Games.
