Esha Singh Leads Women's Pistol Team to World Championship Gold

India's shooting stars had plenty to celebrate at the ISSF World Championships 2026 in Doha as Esha Singh led the country to gold in the women's 25m pistol team event. Joining her in the winning trio were Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker and Divya Thadigol Subbaraju, who combined to give India another memorable moment on the international shooting stage.While the team gold brought cheers, the individual finals offered a bittersweet finish, with both Esha and Manu narrowly missing out on the podium.A Golden Performance by India's Shooting TrioThe Indian trio delivered a strong performance across the two-day qualification round, accumulating an impressive 1,761-68x points to secure the top position.Esha emerged as India's highest scorer with 590-25x, while Manu contributed 587-24x. Divya added another 584-19x to complete the winning tally. India finished comfortably ahead of the Republic of Korea, which secured silver with 1,748-66x. Vietnam took home bronze with 1,745-54x. The victory marked India's second gold medal at the Doha championships.Esha and Manu Make It to the FinalThe team triumph was made even sweeter as Esha and Manu both qualified for the individual 25m pistol final. Esha finished third in the qualification standings with 590 points, behind Germany's Doreen Vennekamp, who topped the field with 592, and Hungary's Veronika Major, who scored 591.Her performance was particularly impressive given her recovery in the Rapid round. After scoring 292 in the Precision round, the 21-year-old came back strongly with series of 100, 98 and 100, finishing with 298 in the Rapid round.Manu, too, demonstrated resilience. Following a 289 in the Precision round, she produced an excellent Rapid round of 298, with scores of 99, 99 and 100. Her overall score of 587 secured her sixth place and a ticket to the final.Divya narrowly missed qualification, finishing 10th.A Narrow Miss in the Individual EventThe individual final, however, did not go India's way. Manu finished fourth with 27 hits, just missing a place on the podium, while Esha finished eighth with 11 hits. Although the individual results were disappointing, their contribution to India's team gold remained a significant achievement.India also added to its medal collection through the men's 50m rifle 3 positions team, with Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Akhil Sheoran and Niraj Kumar securing bronze. With two gold, five silver and two bronze medals, India's tally reached nine at the Doha championships.The Indian shooting contingent will now look to build on this momentum as the competition continues, with more opportunities to bring home medals and Olympic quota places for Los Angeles 2028.