Indian amateur shooter (born 2005)
Esha Singh (born 1 January 2005) is an Indian sport shooter. She became the youngest national champion in the 10 meter air pistol in 2018 at the age of 13. Besides 10 meter air pistol, she also competes in 25 meter standard pistol and 25 meter pistol events.
Personal life and background
Esha was born to Sachin Singh and Srilatha on 1 January 2005 in Hyderabad. Her father was a rally driver. Before she took up shooting, Singh tried go-karting, badminton, tennis and skating. A visit to the shooting range at Gachibowli Athletic Stadium in Hyderabad motivated her to choose air pistol. She trained at the stadium and simultaneously at her home, in the paper practice range built by her father. She later joined the Gun for Glory academy by former Olympic medallist Gagan Narang in Pune, Maharashtra.[1]
Professional career
Domestic
Singh began shooting in 2014 and in 2015, she became the Telangana state champion in 10m air pistol category. She then defeated the Commonwealth Games and Youth Olympics gold-medalist Manu Bhaker and multi-medalist Heena Sidhu in 62nd National Shooting Championships at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala by winning gold in 10m Air Pistol event becoming the youngest champion in the senior category as a 13-year-old. She also won gold medals in youth and junior categories.[1][2][3] At the second edition of Khelo India Youth Games in January 2019, Singh won gold medal in the 10m air pistol event in the under-17 category.
International
She won silver medal at the ISSF Junior World Cup at Suhl, Germany in 2019 and two gold medals at the Asian Junior championships in 10m air pistol women (AP60W) and 10m air pistol mixed team (APMIX).[4]
Singh won gold at the Asian Airgun Championships in Taoyuan, Taiwan in March–April, 2019 in the junior category of 10m air pistol event.[5] In November 2019, Singh went on to win individual and mixed team gold medals at Asian Shooting Championship in Doha in 10m air pistol (junior) event.[6]
Singh was also selected for India's core training team for the 2020 Summer Olympics,[7] but failed to finish among the top two to qualify for the Olympics in the qualification event held in February 2020.[7]
At the age of 18, she won four medals at the 2022 Asian Games, including the gold medal in the 25m pistol team event for India and an individual silver medal in the 25m pistol event.[8] She became the 25m junior world champion at the 2022 ISSF World Shooting Championships in Cairo.
She clinched an Olympic quota berth in the 10m air pistol category for the 2024 Summer Olympics at the Asian Qualifier at Jakarta on 8 January 2024.[9] She will represent India in the 25 meter pistol event at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Awards and nominations
Year
|
Award
|
Category
|
Result
|
Ref.
|
2024
|
Indian Sports Honours
|
Breakthrough Performance of the Year Male
|
Nominated
|
|
References