South Korea’s Gaeun Choo wins gold with Asian and Games record; Manu Bhaker now turns focus to 25m pistol event
Nagoya, September 2026 : Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker narrowly missed out on a podium finish in the women’s 10m air pistol individual event at the Asian Games 2026, finishing fifth in the eight-shooter final here on Wednesday.
South Korea’s Gaeun Choo claimed the gold medal with an Asian and Games record score of 246.3. China’s Yiyao Shen secured silver with 241.3, while compatriot Ranxin Jiang took bronze with 221.6.
Bhaker entered the individual final after finishing third in qualification with a score of 579, including 20 inner 10s. However, she could not maintain the momentum in the medal round and finished with 181.1 points.
The result marked a disappointing end to India’s campaign in the women’s 10m air pistol event, after the Indian trio also missed out on a team medal by the narrowest of margins.
Bhaker, Esha Singh and Suruchi finished fourth in the team event with a combined score of 1719-44x. Vietnam also registered 1719 points but secured the bronze medal with 46 inner 10s, leaving India just two inner 10s short of the podium.
China won the team gold with 1735-56x, while South Korea took silver with 1730-55x.
Among the other Indian shooters, Esha finished 15th in the individual qualification with 572 points, while Suruchi was 26th with 568. Neither advanced to the eight-shooter final.
For Bhaker, the fifth-place finish will be particularly disappointing as she had hoped to add an individual Asian Games medal after missing out on the podium in the individual event at the 2023 Hangzhou Games. She had, however, won gold in the women’s 25m pistol team event at Hangzhou alongside Esha Singh and Rhythm Sangwan.
Bhaker will now shift her attention to the women’s 25m pistol competition, where she will compete alongside Esha Singh and 2018 Asian Games champion Rahi Sarnobat. The event will provide another opportunity for the Olympic medallist to challenge for a podium finish.
India’s shooting contingent has already made a strong start at the 2026 Asian Games, with medals coming across both rifle and shotgun events.
Earlier in the day, India’s women’s skeet team of Razia Dhillon, Maheshwari Chauhan and Parinaaz Dhaliwal secured a bronze medal after recording a combined score of 331 in qualification.
The shooting campaign had begun with India winning silver in the women’s 10m air rifle team event. Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod combined to secure the team silver, while Elavenil also claimed an individual silver medal.
India subsequently added more medals in the men’s 10m air rifle events. Himanshu and Rundrakksh Patil won silver in the team competition, before Himanshu secured silver and Rundrakksh bronze in the individual event.
The results have underlined India’s depth across shooting disciplines at the Games. While Bhaker’s fifth-place finish in the 10m air pistol individual event ended one medal opportunity, India’s shooters remain in contention in several events still to come.
With the 25m pistol competition next on her schedule, Bhaker will now look to put the disappointment behind her and return to competition in another event where she has considerable international experience.
