The 21-year-old entered the final after qualifying eighth and endured a roller-coaster medal round that included multiple shoot-offs, technical interruptions and a prolonged battle with China\u2019s Xiao Jiaruixuan for gold. <\/p>\r\n\r\n
Esha eventually finished second after the final shoot-off, but said the experience itself was more significant than the medal.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cIt was amazing and I\u2019ve never had an experience like this before. Definitely going into my bucket of amazing experiences. And I\u2019m grateful for every moment. And though it was nerve-wracking, it was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Indian acknowledged that she came close to elimination several times during the final. Having started strongly, Esha found herself repeatedly fighting to remain in contention before eventually securing the bronze-medal position and then advancing to the gold-medal shoot-off.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cAs an athlete, I\u2019m very aware of that when you\u2019re playing. Of course, it\u2019s a very distracting thought that you get. Like, I\u2019m going to go out any second. And I was leading in the beginning, but things were not working out the way I wanted it to. But I still kept my focus on. I still knew I could do it. I fought till the heart. I tried my best. My hand did end up getting a little tired because nobody who went up to the goal shot as much as I did. But still, I think I\u2019m going to work on it because I don\u2019t want this to happen again. Yeah, I think overall I\u2019m really happy with the way I played.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Esha revealed that physical fatigue became a factor as the final progressed. She repeatedly shook and moved her shooting hand during the tense exchanges, attempting to ease the tightness that had developed without her initially noticing it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s because of the pressure. I think this time, in my mind, I don\u2019t know if it was a thought or if it was really happening. But my hand was genuinely getting very, very tight and very tired without me realising. Even just the first series. So, I just tried maybe relieving or just relaxing it a bit. So, that\u2019s what I was even telling before. I was kind of grateful for the errors and mistakes the judges were making because I got some rest. So, maybe you can call it God\u2019s grace giving me some time off and just to think about it. It looks like a situation where the zone is breaking for an athlete. But in my case, it really helped me.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The silver also offered Esha an opportunity to confront memories of her Olympic experience. She said the pressure she felt during qualification and the final reminded her of the difficulties she encountered previously, but added that she now felt better equipped to handle such moments.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cYeah, the qualification I am not proud of. Nor the air. But I think this kind of pressure I did not have before. It was, I would say, on an Olympic level. And that is why I am saying I really like this whole experience of this match. Because I got to relive that moment. And I did things which I couldn\u2019t do back then. And I think now I genuinely do feel stronger. Because even in the qualification, in the rapid, I could at least come back in the last series. Which I could not do in the precision. And which is why I think for the finals as well, I was very confident and I knew I can do it.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Elaborating on that comparison, Esha said the difficulty lay in losing control of her duelling during the Olympics \u2014 a problem she encountered again in Aichi-Nagoya.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI think I was trying to talk about my Olympics. Because this is kind of a very similar situation that happened. My duelling was just so out of control. I could not get my hands on things. And that\u2019s the kind of situation I faced here after a very long time. Otherwise it was going well.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
So it\u2019s going well, you don\u2019t have anything to work on. So this time it happened. And that\u2019s when I was like, I really pulled it hard. And I think the last season made me realise that I am strong enough to handle this.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Esha also spoke about the support coming from the stands, saying she could hear her father during the final and understood his frustration with the officials after the interruptions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
So it\u2019s going well, you don\u2019t have anything to work on. So this time it happened. And that\u2019s when I was like, I really pulled it hard. And I think the last season made me realise that I am strong enough to handle this.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"Because in other sports, you get to at least maybe throw a ball harder or something. But here you can\u2019t do that. You have to stay as calm as possible. So yeah, I think I\u2019ll think about it a little later. But I think it has justified his reaction to it. Because those kind of errors shouldn\u2019t be made by judges. But maybe it was an electronic error. I don\u2019t know yet. But it's okay. Things happen.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n