National C'hips: 13-Yr-Old Esha Singh Shoots Gold, Outclasses Stalwarts

A new shooting prodigy bettered international level winners such as Manu Bhaker and Heena Sidhu to win three gold medals at the 62nd National Shooting Championships on Thursday. Thirteen-year-old Esha Singh from Telangana won the Women’s, Youth Women’s and Junior Women’s 10m Air Pistol competitions.

Esha shot 241.0 in the Women’s final, scoring better than Youth Olympic games champion Manu who finished with 238.9. Manu settled for silver while Shweta Singh, representing ONGC, won bronze with a score of 217.2.

Interestingly, Esha was making only her second appearance when she had a glorious run at the Vattiyoorkavu National Games range. She shot a grand golden treble in the 10m air pistol event and outclassed Manu Bhaker in all three finals.

"It is unbelievable even to me, that I shot so well,” the 13-year-old Esha told Sportstar Live.

Manu too was all praise for Esha. “I would not say that it was a bad day for me. Esha simply was great, shooting well in all the three finals and winning all of them, virtually hands down.”

Coach Gagan, an Olympic medallist himself, praised Esha's performance and said, "She has been dedicated and a fine shooter. She kept her calm in the nerve wracking final. No doubt Esha's show is a remarkable feat that too from a 13-year-old. Now she should be consistent and we'll be grooming her as a consistent performer," TOI reported.

Talking about her next target, Esha said, "I don't want to be just another Olympian. I want to win a medal for my country, for sure. My next target is to be in the national senior squad. I have been in national junior squad to Germany, Switzerland and the Czech Republic for both training and competition. In the upcoming selection trials, I want to repeat the performance and gain a berth in the senior squad."

Way to go, Esha!

Feature Image Credit : The Indian Express

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