Match button malfunction ends Aishwary Pratap Singh’s bid for an Asian Games individual medal
Aishwary Pratap Singh suffered a match button malfunction during the 50m rifle 3-position final at the Asian Games on September 25, 2026, which interrupted his series and contributed to him finishing fifth. The technical issue occurred as he moved into the prone stage and required referee intervention.
Aishwary had negotiated the kneeling stage of the 50m rifle 3-position final well and was placed around fourth or fifth, within reach of a podium finish before the prone series began. The match button is an electronic control at the firing point that helps a shooter communicate with the range system when moving from sighter shots to official attempts; sighters are trial shots used to assess conditions before the scored series begins. "My shooting in kneeling position was good and score-wise also my ranking was good. I think I was in fourth or fifth position. But when the prone started and I began taking my sighter shots, my match button had a malfunction and I was having trouble pressing it, so I had to turn back and inform the match referee that it's not working properly," Aishwary said.
The malfunction happened as Aishwary began his sighter shots in the prone position, forcing him to turn away from the firing line and seek the match referee's help, an interruption that he said broke his rhythm. "The final match is of 22 minutes and you have to take so many shots, then there is the pressure and so many thoughts. Amid all this, if your mind gets disturbed or wavers then......," he said.
The disruption had a measurable effect on his prone series, where he scored 102.9 and described the result as well below what he expected to achieve. "I had to turn back to inform the referee and that affected my prone scores. They (scores) took a massive hit because I shot a series of 102.9. Had I not got stuck in this issue, I would easily have had a series of 104.0 or more," he said. An 8.9 in standing further harmed his position and Aishwary was eliminated on the 32nd shot of the 35-shot final, finishing fifth while Chinese Olympic gold medallists took the top two places.
Aishwary, 25, left the individual event with only a team silver as consolation after earlier returning from Hangzhou with four medals: gold in the 50m rifle 3-position team event, gold in the 10m air rifle team event, individual silver in the 50m rifle 3-position event and individual bronze in the 10m air rifle competition. "Yes, a slight disappointment. Last time I won four medals and this time I am going home with just one team medal. So that is a bit of a disappointment," he said.
Aishwary has said he will move on quickly, with his immediate focus on the World Championships and then the pursuit of an Olympic quota for India. The malfunction cost him a chance at another Asian Games individual medal, and his next confirmed objectives are the World Championships and the Olympic quota attempt.
