Shooting League of India will be great for sport with sponsors, better opportunities: Ace Indian shooter Esha Singh

India’s current crop of senior female sport pistol shooters is hands down one of the strongest in the world. And in that context, it will be very interesting to track how the likes of Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh, Rhythm Sangwan, Suruchi Phogat, Palak Gulia etc. fare in the 2025-26 cycle, which is a very important one for shooters overall, in the lead-up to the 2026 Asian Games and the 2028 Olympics.

We might already be heading towards the end of August, but there’s still a lot of shooting action scheduled for the rest of the year. The 16th Asian Championship for Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun events is currently on. The qualification rounds are done and the finals began on Monday (August 18). Overall, 734 shooters from 28 countries are competing in Kazakhstan. There are both senior and junior categories at this tournament and India has sent the largest combined squad of 164 shooters in both Olympic and non-Olympic events. Of these, 71 shooters have travelled with government/federation support and the rest are all self-funded.

There is also an ISSF World Cup for Rifle and Pistol shooting coming up in China in September (September 7-15 in Ningbo), followed by the Egypt World Cup for Rifle and Pistol events in November (6-18 November in Cairo) and then the ISSF Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun World Cup in Doha in December (December 4-9 in Doha).

One Indian shooter you need to watch out for in this extremely important cycle in international sport shooting, as she aims for as many top results and podium finishes as possible, is Esha Singh. The 20-year-old, who won a silver medal in Buenos Aires, at the Argentina World Cup in April in the women’s 25m pistol event, is one of the brightest stars in India’s female pistol shooting stable.

Esha, who won four medals at the last edition of the Asian Games when she was 18, spoke to Firstpost as part of a special interview on various topics, including the inaugural edition of the Shooting League of India – India’s first franchise-based league for Olympic shooting events, which is backed by the global governing body of sport shooting, the ISSF.

The league has everyone in India’s sport shooting community very excited and the first edition will run from November 20 –December 2, 2025. The inaugural edition of the SLI will have only mixed-team events and no individual events, to try and boost broadcast numbers, with participants competing in the 10m Pistol, 25m Pistol, 10m Rifle, 50m 3-Positions Rifle, Trap and Skeet events.

This is part 2 of an exclusive interview with Esha, who is currently ranked 8th in the world in the women’s 25m pistol shooting rankings of the ISSF. Here Esha talks about what she is like as a shooter when she is competing, why she is grateful to the governing body of shooting in India, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), legendary athletes who continue to inspire her and also the advent of the Shooting League of India.

Click here to read Part 1 of the interview with Easha Singh

Excerpts…

What is Esha like when she is at an event - whether domestic or international? Do you chat with your compatriots and maybe even other competitors quite a lot or do you like to stay to yourself and just focus on your game?

Esha: There are two types of athletes. Some do like to stay in their zone completely. I think I am a combination of the two kinds, a lot like what I am right now, talking to you. I am quite normal even before a match. I am chatty and I talk to everyone. I feel no matter what’s going on, when I’m in the lane, when I’m alone with my gun, then I’m very good at switching off and just being in my zone. I’m grateful to God that I have that gift, so I can switch on and enter my zone very quickly, no matter what’s going on. So, I’m quite normal like that, but I think maybe 30-40 minutes before the match, everyone is already on their own, so you don’t have anybody to talk to and the same is true for me. I do my normal routine before a match and at that time I like to be alone. But otherwise, I’m quite normal.

A lot of athletes, when they begin their careers, they have pre-existing idols or inspirations. Did you have anyone like that, maybe not pre-existing, but is there anyone that you idolised once you took up shooting?

Esha: So, because my dad is into racing (Esha’s father, Sachin Singh, was a National level Rally Driver and gave up the sport to free up time to focus on Esha’s shooting career) and his idol was Ayrton Senna (3-time F1 World Champion) and we would watch a lot of his races and his movies. I still admire Ayrton Senna quite a lot. He is still one of my favourite sportspersons. I wouldn’t say I idolise him, but I have been inspired a lot by him. It was his (Senna’s) grit that really inspired me. In terms of shooting, obviously Gagan sir (Olympic medallist Gagan Narang) was a big inspiration because whenever I would go to the ‘Gun for Glory’ (academy), his posters would be everywhere and he would even come visit sometimes and give us a few tips now and then. And then there’s Anna Korakaki (25m women’s pistol Olympic gold medallist in 2016) from Greece. She is an amazing pistol shooter and when I got to compete with her, that was a fan moment for me. That was when I won my first World Cup medal, in 2022, in the 10m event, which I won alongside her (Esha played the Gold medal match vs Korakaki and won the silver). So, I think these three (Ayrton Senna, Gagan Narang and Anna Korakaki) played a big role (as inspirational figures).

You mentioned Senna. Now, one of Senna’s most famous quotes was – “If you no longer go for a gap that exists, you are no longer a racing driver.” Do you identify yourself with that mindset, that ideology in a way?

Esha: So, how I look at it, in my sport, is - I feel the message that was given (by Senna when he said that) was when you are a sportsperson, if you don’t have that grit anymore to fight for the win, then I think that’s when you should stop competing, because then you are no longer hungry to win. Then you just go home. So that’s the message I take from it because mine is an individual sport, you don’t really get gaps (laughs). But I don’t look for any weaknesses in anyone. As I said, my sport is quite an independent one. You don’t face your competitor at all. It’s just you. The battle is between you and your mind, not with anyone else.

Talk to me a little bit more about the governing body of shooting in India, the NRAI and your take on them ensuring that they take the shooters’ experience and feedback onboard…

Esha: So, year by year, they have (NRAI) just done everything in their power to make shooters comfortable and give their best. For that, I’m very grateful. I think that’s why we have become a (shooting) powerhouse today because (as a federation) you have to listen to an athlete and they do take our feedback for consideration and they listen to us. Some people think that there are a lot of ‘oldies’ in the house that they’re very old shooters and that they don’t understand, but it’s not like that. They do listen to us. They talk to us. They understand our experiences. That is something I am very happy about.

The NRAI is also planning the Shooting League of India and the first edition is this year in November. There will be only mixed-team events in the first edition… 

Esha: Yes, yes. I’m actually quite excited for that.

So, how do you see this league helping Indian shooters?

Esha: I think overall it’s very good for the sport. It’s good exposure for the sport. We have sponsors coming in. Each (participating) athlete will get exposure. I think it’s going to be very different, it’s not going to be a normal shooting regime. They are even changing the games. I think when you have such a good local domestic competition being so strong, then World Cups are like a piece of cake.