A Golden Quad: India’s Historic Domination in Women’s 10m Air Pistol in 2025
The 2025 International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup season will be remembered as a defining chapter in Indian shooting history. For the first time ever, a single nation swept all four individual gold medals in the women’s 10m air pistol discipline. This unprecedented “golden quad” not only showcased the brilliance of individual athletes but also underlined India’s arrival as a shooting powerhouse.
The feat was delivered through the complementary excellence of two young stars 19-year-old Suruchi Singh and 20-year-old Olympian Esha Singh whose journeys, though different in origin and style, converged to script one of India’s greatest sporting achievements. The foundation of India’s dominance was laid by teenager Suruchi Singh, whose rapid rise from a small village in Haryana to World No. 1 has been nothing short of remarkable. Born in Sasroli in 2006, Suruchi came from a family steeped in wrestling tradition, but she carved her own path in shooting.
By 13, she was training at the Guru Dronacharya Shooting Academy, and during the pandemic, she honed her craft on a makeshift range at home. This determination became her hallmark. In 2025, her debut senior season, Suruchi announced herself with authority. She captured three consecutive World Cup gold medals in Buenos Aires, Lima, and Munich amassing 4162 points across the season and rising to the No. 1 spot in world rankings, ahead of seasoned Chinese shooters like Yao Qianxun and Qian Wei.
Her Buenos Aires win marked the beginning of India’s golden run. The Lima victory was particularly symbolic, as she overcame double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker in the final. Scoring 243.6 against Bhaker’s 242.3, Suruchi proved she could challenge not just international rivals but also India’s biggest star, showing the depth of talent within the country. Munich was a sterner test. In a tense final, Suruchi edged France’s Olympic silver medallist Camille Jedrzejewski by a margin of just 0.2 points, 241.9 to 241.7. The pressure was compounded by Yao Qianxun’s junior world record in qualifying on the same day. Yet, Suruchi’s composure held firm, underscoring her rare psychological strength.
By the end of Munich, Suruchi had delivered three golds in a row, making her the face of India’s new shooting era.
Esha Singh: The Clutch Champion Who Completed the Quad
With Suruchi’s three golds in the bag, the task of sealing the clean sweep fell to Esha Singh at the final World Cup in Ningbo, China. The stakes were immense. India had gone four days without a medal, and the pressure to maintain perfection was squarely on Esha and her compatriot Rhythm Sangwan. Esha’s path to the final was far from smooth. She scraped through qualifying in 10th place with a score of 578 the lowest among finalists. But champions are often defined not by flawless beginnings, but by their ability to rise when it matters most.
In the final, Esha displayed nerves of steel. The contest went down to the very last shot, where she secure gold with 242.6, edging her rival by just 0.1 points.
For Esha, this was her first-ever individual World Cup gold, a crowning moment in a career that had already seen her become India’s youngest national champion at 13 and an Olympian in Paris 2024. Having juggled both 10m and 25m pistol events, her Ningbo triumph firmly established her as a world-class force in both disciplines. Esha’s victory contrasted with Suruchi’s consistency. While Suruchi’s season was defined by dominance, Esha’s was about resilience and timing the ability to deliver under extreme pressure. Together, they embodied two sides of the same coin: relentless excellence and clutch brilliance.
The golden quad is not merely the story of two athletes; it signals a systemic transformation in Indian shooting. Alongside Suruchi and Esha, the presence of stars like Manu Bhaker, ranked sixth, and Palak, who topped Ningbo qualification while competing for Ranking Points Only, highlights India’s bench strength. Such depth ensures that India’s success is not reliant on one athlete but sustained by a robust pipeline.
This competitive domestic environment has created a culture where Indian shooters regularly face world-class competition at home. The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) credited the athletes’ discipline and mental resilience to this structured system, which is now producing results on the biggest stages.
What made the golden quad even more remarkable was the quality of opposition India faced. Suruchi overcame Jedrzejewski, an Olympic medallist, and stood firm against Yao Qianxun’s record-breaking run. Esha defeated Yao in Ningbo, while also contending with Korea’s Olympic record holder Oh Yejin. These victories weren’t against weak fields; they were hard-fought wins against the very best in the sport.
The season also highlighted a generational shift. The top names Suruchi (19), Esha (20), and Yao (a teenager) reflect a young, dynamic cohort leading the sport. India’s emergence as the frontrunner of this new generation marks a major disruption to traditional powerhouses like China and Korea.
Stories of Contrast: Rural vs Urban
The narratives of Suruchi and Esha also reflect the diversity of Indian sport. Suruchi, from rural Haryana, defied her family’s wrestling legacy to pursue shooting, symbolizing the growing reach of Olympic sports in India’s hinterlands. Esha, from Hyderabad, benefited from strong family support her father, a former rally driver, sacrificed his career to back her shooting dreams. Together, they show that talent can emerge from both rural and urban India when given opportunity and infrastructure.
The 2025 ISSF World Cup season in women’s 10m air pistol will forever be remembered as the year India redefined dominance. Suruchi Singh’s meteoric rise and Esha Singh’s clutch brilliance combined to script history. Their “golden quad” is more than medals it is a legacy of belief, resilience, and systemic progress. For aspiring shooters across India, especially young girls, it stands as proof that world-beating success is now within reach. For global shooting, it marks a shift in power, with India at the forefront of a new era.
The golden quad is not just a moment of triumph; it is the dawn of an era where India is no longer chasing medals, but setting benchmarks for the world.
