Shoot-Off heartbreak for Manu Bhaker as India’s medal surge rolls on

New Delhi: Gold slipped away by the narrowest of margins for Manu Bhaker, as a nerve-shredding final of the 25m Women’s Pistol went down to two dramatic shoot-offs at the Asian Rifle/Pistol Championship, New Delhi 2026. Battling shot for shot at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range, Bhaker was finally edged out by Vietnam’s Thuy Trang Nguyen, settling for silver after an unforgettable contest.

India’s podium presence didn’t end there. Esha Singh continued her strong run, claiming bronze to secure her second individual medal of the championship.

The drama echoed in the junior category as well, where Naamya Kapoor held her nerve in another tense shoot-off to clinch gold, while veteran Anjali Bhagwat added further depth to India’s dominance with a bronze in the same event.

With yet another day of high-pressure brilliance, India’s medal haul swelled to an imposing 60 medals — 37 gold, 13 silver, and 10 bronze — underlining the hosts’ commanding performance at the continental showpiece.

(From left) Manu Bhaker, Vietnam’s Thuy Trang Nguyen and Esha Singh

In the finals, Esha Singh started with a perfect five in the first series while Manu and Thuy Trang hit four. All three shooters were trading the medal positions after each series in the tightly contested finals. The Indian’s were putting pressure on the Vietnamese shooter but a perfect five shots in the sixth series saw her take a two-point lead. Manu and Esha took advantage of Nguyen’s one shot seventh series to close the gap.

Esha, who was leading with a score of 30 at the end of the eighth series, missed all her shots in the ninth series to eventually be content with the bronze medal. In the last series, Manu hit three shots while Nguyen hit two shots to end the finals on 35 shots in each to take the finals to a shoot-off.

In the first shoot-off, both shooters hit two shots each and in the following shoot-off Manu missed three shots to miss out on the gold medal. The third Indian in the final, Rhythm Sangwan finished in fourth place.

In the junior finals, Naamya Kapoor survived a shoot-off to clinch the gold. The youngest Indian to win a World Championship medal, hit 29 shots, same as Rihadatul Asyifa of Indonesia. The young shooter held her nerve in the shoot-off, hitting three shots while Asyifa missed all her shots. Anjali Bhagwat won bronze with a score of 24. Parisha Gupta, who qualified for the finals in top spot finished in fifth place with a score of 14.

The Indian teams also secured gold in both the senior and junior categories.

Tags : Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh, Shooting, Asian Championship, New Delhi, Rifle, Pistol