Golden Aim! Esha Singh Smashes World Record at ISSF World Cup

Indian shooter Esha Singh delivered the performance of her career on Wednesday, storming to a sensational gold medal with a new world record in the women’s 25m pistol event at the ISSF World Cup in Munich.

The 21-year-old Olympian produced a breathtaking score of 43 in the final , surpassing the previous world record of 42 and giving India its first medal of the tournament in emphatic fashion. Competing against a world-class field at the iconic Olympic Shooting Range, Esha displayed nerves of steel to outclass home favourite and former world champion Doreen Vennekamp , who settled for silver five shots behind. Bulgaria’s Miroslava Mincheva claimed bronze.

From the very beginning of the final, Esha looked unstoppable. She opened with three flawless series, instantly separating herself from the rest of the field and putting immense pressure on her rivals. Even reigning Olympic champion Yang Jiin failed to keep pace and exited in fifth place.

The Indian star maintained her rhythm throughout the contest, repeatedly firing perfect scores as the world record gradually came within reach. With the gold medal already secured, Esha finished strongly to rewrite the record books, eclipsing the mark set by Korea’s Kim Yeji two years ago in Baku.

Speaking after her historic triumph, Esha admitted the pressure was enormous despite her composed display on the range.

“Munich meant a lot to me because the level of competition here is extremely high. I just focused on my process and trusted the work I had done in training,” she said.

She also candidly revealed the nerves she battled during the final.

“At one point, I could feel my hand shaking while trying to hear the command. But in shooting, you cannot run away from pressure. You have to embrace it,” she added.

Esha had earlier qualified fourth with a total score of 587 after shooting 294 in rapid fire and 293 in precision. Fellow Indians Manu Bhaker and Rahi Sarnobat finished 12th and 14th respectively.

In the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions event, Ashi Chouksey narrowly missed the final after finishing one point short of qualification.

India will now look to continue the momentum on Thursday when Olympian Elavenil Valarivan , Arya Borse and debutant Sakshi Padekar compete in the women’s 10m air rifle event.