Why did India miss medal in Women's 25m Air Pistol team event at Asian Games 2026?
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India finished fifth in the women’s 25m pistol team event
India finished fifth in the women’s 25m pistol team event at the Asian Games 2026 on Monday, September 28, scoring 1727-56x, which was not enough for a medal.
The day had started well. After the opening part of the event, called the precision stage, India was second, only a point behind leaders China. Even gold looked possible.
Then came the rapid stage, where shooters get very little time for each shot. Rahi Sarnobat missed the target in one of her early rapid series.
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Every target has a scoring area, and around it sits a frame. If the bullet hits the frame instead of the scoring area, the shot gets no points at all.
Even a poor shot that lands on the target earns something, but a frame shot earns exactly zero. In a sport where teams are separated by a few points, one zero is very hard to recover from.
Rahi’s final shot of that five-shot series was scored as zero. She ended the series with 39 out of a possible 50, which means her first four shots were almost perfect. India believed the scoring technology had not registered the shot properly, so the team appealed.
The Asian Games authorities reviewed it and rejected the appeal. Their view was that Rahi had fired before settling properly on the target, so the zero stayed.
The zero dropped India from second to sixth at one stage, and the team eventually settled for fifth. Rahi finished 30th in qualification with 568-16x.
China won gold with 1743-68x. South Korea took silver with 1735-65x, and Chinese Taipei got bronze with 1734-48x. Vietnam was fourth with 1732-56x. India was five points behind Vietnam, seven behind bronze, eight behind silver and 16 behind China.
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How did it all come together?
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A team score is just the three players’ scores added together. Esha Singh scored 580-22x and finished eighth. Manu Bhaker scored 579-18x and finished 11th. Add Rahi’s 568 and you get 1727.
Rahi was 12 points below Esha and 11 below Manu. If she had scored 579 like Manu, India’s total would have been 1738. That would have beaten South Korea’s 1735, so India would have won silver on paper.
Esha took the last place in the individual final, so India still has one more medal chance in this event. Manu missed the final by three places. Earlier at these Games, she also finished fifth in the 10m air pistol final.
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The result
The result is particularly disappointing given India’s gold-medal performance in the same event at Hangzhou 2022, where Esha Singh, Manu Bhaker and Rhythm Sangwan combined to win the team title. Esha also won individual bronze there.
In Aichi-Nagoya, India finished fourth in both the men’s and women’s 10m air pistol team events. Despite the setback, Indian shooters have secured medals in the 10m air rifle and the men’s and women’s skeet team events.
Why did India miss a medal in the women’s 25m Pistol team event?
Rahi Sarnobat missed the target in her opening rapid series and finished 30th with 568-16x. India dropped from second to fifth with 1727-56x, seven points short of bronze.
Did any Indian reach the individual final?
Yes. Esha Singh was the only one, taking the last spot in eighth place with 580-22x. Manu Bhaker missed out in 11th with 579-18x.
How many shooting medals has India won at this Asian Games?
India has won 12 shooting medals in this Asiad — a gold, seven silvers and four bronzes.
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