DOHA, Nov 10: Indian shooters delivered a significant performance at the ISSF World Championships in Doha, securing the women’s 25m pistol team gold through the combined efforts of Esha Singh, Manu Bhaker and Divya Subbaraju. However, the achievement was accompanied by disappointment in the individual competition, where the country’s leading shooters failed to convert their qualification performances into medals or Olympic quota places for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
The Indian trio accumulated a combined score of 1,761 points to finish at the top of the team standings. South Korea claimed the silver medal with 1,748 points, while Vietnam secured bronze with 1,745.
Esha emerged as India’s strongest performer during the qualification stage, finishing with an impressive aggregate of 590 over two days of competition. Her contribution proved particularly important in helping the Indian contingent establish a comfortable advantage over its closest rivals.
Manu Bhaker added 587 points, while Divya Subbaraju contributed 584, completing India’s successful team campaign in the event.
The gold medal highlighted India’s strength in women’s pistol shooting and demonstrated the importance of consistent performances across the qualification rounds. Although the individual results did not match the team’s achievement, the combined effort provided the Indian camp with an important success at the international championship.
Esha Produces Strong Comeback in Rapid Round
Esha’s performance was particularly noteworthy because she recovered strongly after a relatively modest opening day.
The 21-year-old shooter from Hyderabad recorded 292 points in Monday’s Precision round. She responded impressively in the Rapid round on Tuesday, producing scores of 100, 98 and 100 across the three series.
Her Rapid-round total of 298 took her overall score to 590, placing her third in the individual qualification standings and securing a place in the eight-shooter final.
The ability to recover after a less convincing opening round reflected Esha’s consistency and composure under competitive pressure. Her performance also proved decisive in India’s successful team campaign.
Manu Bhaker, meanwhile, also displayed improvement during the second stage of qualification.
After recording 289 points in the Precision round, she returned with scores of 99, 99 and 100 in the Rapid section. Her final aggregate of 587 placed her sixth, allowing her to qualify for the individual final.
Divya narrowly missed the individual final after finishing 10th, but her contribution remained valuable in the team competition.
Manu Bhaker Misses Individual Podium by a Narrow Margin
Despite India’s success in the team event, the individual final brought a disappointing outcome for the country’s two prominent shooters.
Manu finished fourth after recording 27 hits, narrowly missing the opportunity to add another major international medal to her collection.
The double Olympic bronze medallist from the Paris 2024 Games had entered the final after a difficult build-up to the championship. Her qualification performance suggested that she had regained some rhythm, but the final proved considerably more challenging.
Manu managed to remain in contention through several shoot-offs. However, she eventually fell short of the medal positions.
Esha experienced a more difficult final. Despite finishing among the leading competitors during qualification, she struggled to maintain the same level of accuracy in the medal round.
The Hyderabad-based shooter recorded only 11 hits from a possible 20 across four series, with individual scores of one, five, three and two. She was the first competitor to exit the final and finished eighth.
South Korea’s Yang Jiin dominated the competition, winning gold with a world-record score of 44 hits. Vietnam’s Trinh Thu Vinh secured silver with 43, while China’s Zhang Yueyue finished third with 34.
The three medallists also secured Olympic quota places for their respective countries.
Olympic Qualification Remains a Major Challenge
The individual results highlighted the importance of India’s remaining opportunities to secure Olympic quota places.
A total of 36 quota places for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics are available through the championship. However, India’s campaign has so far produced only one quota place, secured by men’s 10m air pistol shooter Jaypal Malviya.
The inability of Esha and Manu to secure individual places in Doha was therefore a missed opportunity for the Indian shooting contingent.
The team gold offered encouragement, but it did not automatically translate into Olympic qualification for the individual competitors.
India’s campaign has also experienced difficulties in rifle events. The disqualification of rifle shooter Sambhavi Kshirsagar following an equipment-related failure added to the challenges faced by the contingent.
These developments have increased the importance of the remaining competitions, particularly the trap events, where Indian shooters still have opportunities to improve the country’s overall medal and qualification tally.
Women’s Trap Team Faces Difficult Qualification Campaign
India’s women’s trap team also encountered difficulties during the opening day of its qualification competition.
Asian Games double gold medallist Neeru Dhanda endured a disappointing start, registering scores of 20 and 19 in the first two rounds of 25 shots each. Her combined score of 39 placed her 69th among 77 competitors.
Pragati Dubey was India’s highest-ranked shooter in the event at that stage, occupying 18th position with a total of 46 points from rounds of 24 and 22.
Manisha Keer stood 41st with 43 points, having recorded scores of 23 and 20.
The three Indian shooters faced an uphill task in the remaining qualification rounds as they attempted to move closer to the top eight positions required for a place in the final.
The competition was scheduled to continue with two additional rounds of 25 shots each on Wednesday, followed by the fifth and final qualification round on Thursday.
Their performances would be important for India’s efforts to remain competitive in the championship and strengthen its prospects of securing additional Olympic quota places.
Indian Shooting Looks to Build on Team Success
The women’s 25m pistol gold represents an encouraging achievement for Indian shooting, particularly because it came through contributions from three athletes with different levels of international experience.
Esha’s qualification performance demonstrated her ability to recover from an uncertain beginning, while Manu’s comeback in the Rapid round showed her capacity to remain competitive against a strong international field.
Divya’s contribution further underlined the importance of collective consistency in team shooting competitions.
At the same time, the difference between qualification and final performances provides an important lesson for the Indian contingent. Strong preliminary scores must be followed by equally disciplined performances in medal rounds, where every series can significantly influence the final standings.
India has invested considerable effort in developing its shooting programme, bringing together domestic talent and international expertise. The performances in Doha will therefore be closely examined as the country continues its preparations for the next Olympic cycle.
For Esha, Manu and Divya, the team gold provides a valuable achievement to take forward. For the wider Indian contingent, however, the championship remains an ongoing challenge, with further opportunities required to translate promising performances into individual medals and Olympic qualification.
The Doha competition has once again demonstrated that India possesses considerable depth in women’s pistol shooting, even as the team continues its search for greater consistency at the highest level.
India’s gold medal has strengthened its presence at the championship, but the larger objective remains clear: converting international success into sustained podium performances and qualification for the Los Angeles Olympics.