Esha Singh has her eyes trained on the upcoming World Championships in Baku. Image: Esha Singh Twitter account
Shooting holds a special spot in the conscience of Indian sports fans. After all, it’s the sport that fetched India its first individual Olympic medal. In the 2008 Beijing Games, Abhinav Bindra’s gold in the men’s 10m air rifle set a revolution that has seen India win 15 out of 35 Olympic medals in just the last three editions (2012, 2016 and 2020).
Four out of the 35 medals at Olympics have come in shooting – a sport that also accounts for numerous medals at Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. However the last Summer Games medal in shooting came over a decade ago and with no medals in the last two editions, the focus has shifted to the new breed of shooters.
Among them is pistol shooter Esha Singh from Hyderabad, who has already made a mark with gold-winning performances at age-group and senior levels.
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In 2018, at the age of 13, Esha became the 10m air pistol national champion leaving behind Manu Bhaker and Heena Sidhu. With that win, she became the youngest champion in the senior category.
At the 2019 Asian Airgun Championship, she became the youngest Indian medallist. In 2022, in her first World Cup in the senior category, she clinched silver in the 10m air pistol in a field consisting of Olympic medallists. Later in the year, she became the 25m pistol junior world champion.
Five years into the limelight, Esha feels she has come a long way from when she became the national champion, in how she has matured as a shooter, though there’s a lot more to achieve.
“I was 13 then and now I am 18. I have literally grown up with the team. In 2018 it was my first international competition and now I have been to many. I feel it’s a very long journey, it didn’t seem so but now that I think about it…I am grateful for all my matches because I have learnt so much from each of them,” Esha told Firstpost.
For a prodigy, the next goal is always set by the expectations of the people around them, coaches or supporters. Amid constant pressure, Esha has learnt to stay true to herself. She picked up shooting after falling in love with the sport during a visit to a shooting range in Hyderabad.
For her, the love and satisfaction she gets from the sport continue to drive her and are also key to handling the pressure and expectations.
“I know coaches and others expect medals from me but for me, the important thing is how I feel after a performance. How satisfied I am with my growth. I wouldn’t bother myself with others’ opinions, it’s a sport I chose for myself, so I am focussed on what I need to work on and how much I can apply it,” she explained.
“The pressure will never end. Every athlete will feel pressure in a match. If not for one game, it will there in another game. Rather than focus on a particular match, what is important is how much you are working on your game. If you are behind a certain event, a certain medal or a certain ranking, that’s not how you play sport.”
That visit to the Gachibowli shooting range that changed Esha’s destiny happened at the age of nine and the shooter is now mentored by her father Sachin – a rally driver who retired early to travel with her daughter and is trained by 2012 Olympics bronze medallist Gagan Narang.
Currently, the Hyderabad resident has her eyes trained on the World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan in August. However, so far in 2023, in the World Cups in Bhopal, Baku and Cairo, she’s not medalled despite making the finals.
Unperturbed by the minor setbacks, Esha has realised that she would need to improve her shooting and control in the finals to have a consistent run at the top level.
“This season is more of a learning season for me. My performance has been very good I am just looking to improve my finals. I am working on balancing 25m and 10m and I feel I have learnt a lot of important points which is good because it’s better to learn now than later,” she explained.
To improve in the finals, the effort required is twofold. The best shooters have the best control over their minds and the best basics as well. For Esha, the focus is also on the basics.
“Qualification is a long process and it looks difficult from the outside, but from the mental aspect, the final is equally tough. When you are in the final you feel people are behind, you have to fight many thoughts and focus on yourself,” she shared.
“My mistakes mainly happen in my basics. In the coordination of my basics, so I always keep coming to that. My focus is on strength in my basics so that I don’t have to look for anything else.”
With World Championships and Asian Games this year and the Olympics the next, there’s a lot to target and Esha is putting in the hard yards to hit the bullseye.
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