Indian shooter Manu Bhaker narrowly missed a podium finish, placing fourth in the women’s 25m pistol event In a gripping finale at the Asian Shooting Championships in Shymkent, Kazakhstan.
Her compatriot Esha Singh, who topped the qualification round, ended sixth in the final with 18 points.
Bhaker scored 25 points, just four shy of Vietnam’s Thu Vinh Trinh, who clinched the bronze with 29. The gold and silver medals went to China’s Yueyue Zhang and Jiaruixuan Xiao, respectively, with Zhang edging out Xiao 4-3 in a shoot-off after both were tied at 39 points.
Despite missing individual medals, the Indian trio of Bhaker, Esha Singh, and Simranpreet Kaur Brar secured a team bronze with a combined score of 1749, finishing behind China and South Korea.
Esha Singh’s stellar performance in the qualification round, where she outscored Bhaker and the Chinese medalists, highlights India’s growing prowess in shooting sports. Bhaker, already a double Olympic medallist, had earlier won bronze in both the 10m air pistol individual and team events during the tournament.
