Manu Bhaker's shooting campaign at the 2026 Asian Games ended yesterday without one individual or team medal after India finished fifth in the women's 25m pistol team event in Aichi-Nagoya on Monday. Bhaker, Esha Singh and Rahi Sarnobat scored 1727-56x, which left India out of the medal list.
The result also ended Bhaker's chance to win a medal in the individual 25m pistol. The two-time Olympic medallist got 11th place in the qualification with a score of 579-18x and thus did not progress to the top 8 individual final. India's only finalist was Esha Singh and Rahi Sarnobat was at 30th place in qualification.
India Finish Fifth In Women's 25m Pistol Team Event
India came into the women’s 25m pistol competition with an experienced trio comprising Bhaker, Singh and Sarnobat. India did manage to get into the mix but a slow and tough rapid pace led to India falling down the list and finally being fifth.
India's final team score of 1727-56x was behind Chinese Taipei, South Korea and China, who took the three medal positions. China took gold with 1743-68x and South Korea won 1735-65x and Chinese Taipei 1734-48x.
The Indian team had been in a stronger position earlier in the competition. Based on the results of the event, India was just one point behind China after the precision stage, but the team did not manage to maintain the position in the rapid stage.
Rahi Sarnobat's frame-hit shot also affected India's final score and one of her shots was registered as zero during the rapid series.
Manu Bhaker Finishes 11th In Qualification
Bhaker's individual campaign ended in the qualification round. She posted 579-18x to finish 11th, narrowly missing the eight-shooter final.
The result followed her fifth place finish in women’s 10m air pistol final earlier in the Games. Bhaker had entered the 2026 Asian Games as one of India's most prominent shooting medal contenders after her historic performance at the Paris Olympics, where she won two bronze medals. But she leaves the Aichi-Nagoya Games without a shooting medal.
Esha Singh, however, made it to the individual 25m pistol final after finishing among the top eight. She eventually placed eighth with a qualification score of 580-22x, thus ending India's individual medal hopes in the event.
The result means India's highly experienced women's pistol contingent failed to get another medal in the 25m event despite entering the competition with multiple established shooters.
Pincky Balhara Assures India A Kurash Medal
While shooting ended without a medal for Bhaker, India got good news from the Kurash competition on the same day. Pincky Balhara won a medal by defeating South Korea's Lim Garam 3-0 in the women's 78kg quarter-final.
The victory sent Balhara into the semifinal and guaranteed India at least a bronze medal in the event. It is India's third Asian Games medal in Kurash. Balhara had won silver in 2018 Asian Games but was eliminated in the quarterfinals at 2022 Hangzhou Games.
Balhara's semifinal was scheduled as part of India's busy Day 10 programme in Aichi-Nagoya. The Kurash women's -78kg semifinal was listed along with many other Indian medal and knockout events on September 28.
Ganesh Mani Ratnam Advances In Archery
India also advanced in men's compound archery individual competition. Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru defeated his fellow Indian Sahil Jadhav 149-148 in an all-Indian round of 16 match to reach the quarterfinals.
The close match followed Ganesh's 144-142 victory over Indonesia's Sostar Andaru Rinaldi in the round of 32. He was scheduled to meet Chinese Taipei's Chen Chieh-lun in the quarterfinals on October 1.
With Bhaker’s 25m pistol campaign completed, India’s focus in Aichi-Nagoya now turns to athletes who continue to compete for medals in shooting, Kurash, archery, athletics and other disciplines. For Bhaker the Games end without a medal while India’s overall campaign on the course still has a lot of medals to come.
