Esha Singh bags silver after shoot-off heartbreak

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Medal tally reaches 39 on Day 10 as Pincky Balhara wins kurash bronze and Lovlina Borgohain assures another boxing medal; Indian teams advance in squash and cricket

Chandigarh, September 28

Indian shooter Esha Singh, 21, won the silver medal in the women’s 25m pistol individual event at the Asian Games after losing the gold-medal shoot-off to China’s Xiao Jiaruixuan.

Esha and Xiao were tied at 38-38 at the end of the final. In the shoot-off, Xiao hit three targets while Esha managed two, giving the Chinese shooter the gold and leaving Esha with silver.

It is Esha’s first medal at the 2026 Asian Games. She had earlier won four medals at the Asian Games; gold in the women’s 25m pistol team event, silver in the women’s 25m pistol individual event, silver in the women’s 10m air pistol individual event and silver in the women’s 10m air pistol team event.

There was disappointment for Manu Bhaker, who failed to win a medal at these games. The Indian trio of Bhaker, Esha and Rahi Sarnobat finished fifth in the women’s 25m pistol team event.

In kurash, Pincky Balhara clinched a bronze medal. She defeated South Korea’s Lim Garam 3-0 in the quarterfinal to assure herself of a medal before losing 0-5 to South Korea’s Mo Sumin in the semifinal.

In boxing, Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain assured India of another medal by defeating South Korea’s Seong Suyeon 5-0 in the women’s 75kg quarterfinal. She advanced to the semifinals.

In cricket, the men’s quarter-final between India and Afghanistan was abandoned due to heavy rainfall without a ball being bowled. India advanced to the semi-finals by virtue of its higher seeding.

In squash, India’s men’s team began its campaign with a 3-0 win over China in Pool A. Suraj Kumar Chand, Veer Chotrani and Velavan Senthilkumar won their respective matches.

The Indian women’s team registered a 2-1 win over China in Pool C. Shameena Riaz lost the opening match, before Tanvi Khanna and Joshna Chinappa won their respective ties to secure the team victory.

In tennis, Ankita Raina and Rutuja Bhosale lost their women’s doubles first-round match to Kazakhstan’s Anna Danilina and Yulia Putintseva 5-7, 6-3, [10-5] in the match tie-break.

In the men’s singles second round, Sumit Nagal was leading South Korea’s Seongchan Hong 3-2 in the opening set when the match was interrupted by weather.

In archery, Sahil Jadhav won his men’s compound individual round-of-32 match against Mongolia 149-137, while Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru defeated Indonesia 144-142. The two Indians then faced each other in the round of 16, where Ganesh won 149-148 to advance to the quarterfinals.

In the women’s compound individual event, Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Chikitha Taniparthi won their opening matches to advance to the round of 16.

India’s official medal tally stood at 39 on Day 10 so far.

India’s remaining schedule for September 28:

• 2:35 PM – Athletics – Women’s Discus Throw Final
• 3:53 PM – Athletics – Women’s 400m Hurdles Final
• 4:17 PM – Athletics – Men’s 3000m Steeplechase Final (Avinash Sable)
• 4:30 PM – Athletics – Men’s Long Jump Final (Murali Sreeshankar)
• 4:45 PM – Athletics – Men’s Javelin Throw Final
• 6:34 PM – Athletics – Women’s 4x100m Relay Final
• 3:30 PM – Hockey – Men’s Pool A: India vs Bangladesh
• 2:15 PM – Boxing – Women’s 60kg: Priya Ghanghas vs Mijgona Samadova (Tajikistan)
• 3:45 PM – Boxing – Men’s 90kg: Kapil Pokhariya vs Kim Gichae (South Korea)
• 2:00 PM – Squash – Men’s Team Pool C: India vs South Korea