Indian pistol shooter Esha Singh clinches historic ISSF World Cup Gold in Munich

At the ISSF World Cup in Munich on Wednesday, 21-year-old Indian pistol shooter Esha Singh won gold in the women's 25-meter pistol competition with an amazing world record score of 43. It was her greatest performance to date.

Esha Singh sets world record in 25m pistol World Cup final

Esha broke the previous world record, which was 42. It seems that one historic accomplishment was insufficient for a single final in Bavaria, but she also destroyed the junior world record that same evening.

Doreen Vennekamp of Germany, a previous world champion competing at home, finished five hits behind for second place. Miroslava Mincheva of Bulgaria won bronze. Yang Ji-in, the current Olympic champion from South Korea and one of the world's most dangerous pistol shooters, barely placed fifth.

Esha dominated from the start. She opened with three perfect series.

India has produced champions before like Manu Bhaker, Heena Sidhu, Rahi Sarnobat, but Esha represents the next wave: technically refined, mentally durable, and entirely unbothered by reputation.

Born in Hyderabad in 2005, Esha first tried sports like badminton, tennis and skating before drifting toward shooting after visiting a range at the Gachibowli Stadium. Her father, a former rally driver, built a paper practice range at home to support her training. By 13, she had already stunned Indian shooting by defeating Manu Bhaker and Heena Sidhu to become the youngest national champion in the 10m air pistol event.

Junior medals followed, then the Asian titles followed. She went on to win four medals at the 2022 Asian Games. Later, she won a junior world championship in the 25-meter pistol competition and qualified for the Olympics in Paris.

Esha is regarded by the ISSF as one of the world's most promising young shooters.

Elite pistol shooters are distinguished by their ability to slow their heart rate when everything around them accelerates up, not by their ferocity or flare. Esha displayed that quality. Even as the pressure mounted and the record came into sight, her rhythm barely changed.

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