Esha, Harsh add to growing list of shooting prodigies
› Beating Manu and Heena was surreal. It is the proudest moment of my career but I want to remain focused and keep doing well. ESHA SINGH, Shooter, Telangana
PUNE: With celebrated teenage shooter Manu Bhaker skipping the Khelo India Youth Games due to exams, two other names grabbing eyeballs here are Telengana’s Esha Singh and Maharashtra’s Harshawardhan Yadav.
Coming into the Pune event, both have defeated their higherranked opponents in nationallevel competitions. Esha pipped Manu and Olympian Heena Sidhu to clinch gold at the Nationals in Thiruvananthapuram while Harsh edged out experienced Gurpreet Singh in 25m rapid fire trials in Delhi.
Currently training under 2012 London Olympics bronze-medallist Gagan Narang, both Esha and Harshawardhan have set sights on winning medals at the Youth Olympics in 2022 and believe doing well in the Khelo India Youth Games will keep their preparations on track.
“My target is to win a medal at the Youth Olympics. A win here will give me the confidence for future preparations,” said Esha, who will compete in 10m pistol and mixed team.
The 13-year-old, who regards Greece’s renowned shooter Anna Korakaki as her idol, played badminton and tennis during child- hood before taking up shooting at the age of nine.
After doing well in local tournaments, she was soon playing in national-level events. “Beating Bhaker and Heena was surreal. It is the proudest moment of my career but I want to remain focused and keep doing well.”
BUILT LIKE A WRESTLER
While Esha has a mind of an artist, Harshawardhan has the physique of a wrestler. He took to shooting after watching his elder brother play the sport during childhood. Thankfully, he found an able coach in Ved Prakash and later an entry into Gagan Narang’s academy ensured he would train in the best of facilities.
DHANUSH SHINES
On the first day of shooting competition, Telengana and Madhya Pradesh shared a gold medal each. In men’s U-21 10m air rifle, Telengana’s Dhanush Srikanth emerged champion with 248.9 points with Yash Yogeshwar of Goa (247.6) and Arjun Babuta of Punjab (225.6) finishing second and third, respectively.
In men’s U-17 air rifle, Madhya Pradesh’s Avinash Yadav bagged the top honours with 250.9 points with Divyansh Singh Panwar of Rajasthan (250.7) and Yashvardhan (228.1) of Rajasthan taking silver and bronze, respectively.