New Delhi, July 1 -- It's been a little over a month since Esha Singh won the 25m pistol event at the Munich World Cup, and the feeling is finally beginning to sink in. What she achieved in Munich included a world record score of 43/50 - the previous mark was 42 points, by South Korea's Kim Yeji. The Paris Olympics 10m pistol silver medallist had held the record since May, 2024. "It feels surreal. Pistol shooting, especially 25m, demands a lot of consistency and technical execution. I am happy I could manage it," she said. The victory also ended Esha's Munich voodoo - she had competed there twice without medalling. The field this time was stacked. The eight-shooter final had South Korea's reigning Olympic champion Yang Ji-in and Germany's former world champion and European Games gold medallist Doreen Vennekamp. India's double Olympics medallist Manu Bhaker and 2018 Asian Games champion Rahi Sarnobat couldn't make it to the medal round. Esha warmed up for the World Cup with a training stint in Suhl where she modified her grip. She began shooting with the new grip just 10 days before her event, a gamble she was willing to take considering that the Asian Games and World Championships are to be held later in the year. "I was having some issues with the grip since November 2025 and kept postponing it thinking it'll get better. As this is an important year and I was anyway in Europe, I thought this is the time for me to do it," she said. Esha followed up her 25m gold with silver in the 10m event, behind Suruchi Singh. Manu and Esha have been named in both pistol events for the Asian Games in Japan. "I have been straddling the two events for a while now, and I feel one helps the other," she said, though the weapons and ammunition used in the events are different. "The precision part of 25m is exactly like 10m. The more you practice 10m, you're also kind of training for precision. So, both kind of balance each other out. Your triggering gets better in 10m which helps in the rapid fire stage. The weight, recoil, sound and ammunition of both pistols are very different, but I don't need much time to make the technical or mental switch anymore. That comes with lots of practice." The past two years have been particularly fruitful for Esha. Last year, she won silver medals in a couple of 10m team events at the Cairo World Championships along with 10m gold at the Ningbo World Cup and 25m silver at the Buenos Aires World Cup. She got off the blocks this season with Asian Championships titles in 10m individual and team competitions besides an individual Asian bronze and team gold in the 25m event. Besides rigorous training - she is coached by Ronak Pandit - Esha credits her consistency to fearlessness. "I am not afraid of shooting low scores anymore. But that comes with a lot of experience and competition exposure. In my early years, I was very inconsistent, though I won domestic age-group titles. "Many people have a steady upwards trajectory, so when their performances dip, it's very hard for them to come back. For me, since I had seen success and failure early in my life, I gradually got over the fear of failure. I believe I can bounce back from any situation," Esha, who at 13 became the youngest national champion in 10m air pistol, added. "Even in Munich, I would have been alright if I didn't win as long as I was happy with my execution." Esha's next big assignment is the Asian Games in Japan, a country she has never competed in. In 2023, the then 18-year-old debuted at the Asiad in Hangzhou, winning four medals - team gold in 25m pistol, individual silver in 10m and 25m pistol, and a 10m team silver - to become India's youngest shooting medallist in that edition. Three years on, she has emerged as one of India's brightest medal prospects. Despite the disappointment at the Paris Olympics where she couldn't make the final, Esha has barely misfired. She will next compete at the World Cup in Hangzhou (July 20-29) before heading to the Asian Games. "I am a different person and a different shooter from who I was in 2023. I expect more out of myself and I know people have their expectations as well. I hope to put all my learnings and experiences to good use in Japan."...