Esha Singh put the disappointment of the 10m air pistol behind her to clinch the silver medal in the women’s 25m pistol in a thrilling final at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on Monday.

The 21-year-old Hyderabad shooter survived five shoot-offs — four in the race for silver/bronze and one more in the battle for gold, before perishing in the sixth tie-breaker to China’s Xiao Jiaruixuan who won the gold medal.

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Esha was on the brink of exiting without a medal when she was fourth, but produced a perfect series of 5 out of 5 to confirm a medal. Then, she survived a dramatic triple shoot-off against North Korea’s Kim Hyon Suk, after being tied at 34 each, in the fight for the silver medal. Both shooters could not be separated after two tie-breakers, with scores level at 3-3 in both. However, the Indian held her nerve to prevail 3-2 in the third shoot-off.

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It meant a final showdown with Xiao. The Chinese, who led by a point, waited for almost 15 minutes as the tie-breaker between Esha and Kim dragged on. But when she resumed action, there was more drama in store as both shooters finished level on 38 after the final series, forcing another shoot-off for the gold medal. In the first tie-breaker, both Esha and Xiao were tied at 4-4, forcing another series, which Xiao won 3-2.

Esha had qualified for the final in eighth place with a score of 580-22x, scraping through in a tightly contested field. The qualification round had been a test of nerves, with the Indian finishing just ahead of the cut-off for the eight-shooter final.

Though a gold was within her reach, the silver was a measure of redemption for Esha, who had endured a disappointing outing in the women’s 10m air pistol earlier in the Games. She finished 15th with a score of 572, while India’s team narrowly missed out on a bronze medal, finishing fourth on the count of inner tens.

The 25m pistol, however, is a discipline in which Esha has consistently delivered. The world No. 1 in the event, she has enjoyed an impressive run over the past 18 months, winning two World Cup titles and a bronze at the World Championships. At the Munich World Cup in May, she produced a record-breaking performance in the final, registering 43 hits to set senior and junior world records.

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Esha had also won individual silver medals in both the 10m and 25m pistol events at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou, along with a team gold and silver.

On Monday, India was one point behind China for the team gold in the women’s 25m pistol event. However, Rahi Sarnobat missed the target in her very first series of the day, which cost the team crucial points. They eventually fifth.