Sport can be brutal at times, and Manu Bhaker has experienced that on the biggest stage. Three years after the heartbreak at the Tokyo Olympics, she produced a supremely confident performance to redeem herself and enter the women’s 10m air pistol final at the Paris Olympics on Saturday.
She became the first Indian female shooter to reach an Olympic final in an individual event in the last 20 years. The last time this happened was in 2004 when Suma Shirur reached the final of the 10m Air Rifle event in Athens.
Fantastic effort from @realmanubhaker as she finished 3rd in the Qualification round in the 10m Air Pistol Women’s event. She will feature in the medal match tomorrow at 3.30 pm IST.#JeetKiAur #Cheer4Bharat pic.twitter.com/GWxXMPzVXI
— Team India (@WeAreTeamIndia) July 27, 2024
Additionally, Bhaker became the first Indian woman to qualify for the 10m Air Pistol Women’s final round at any Olympics.
Bhaker, who was in control for the major part of the one-hour and 15-minute session, will need to maintain the same composure in the all-important final at the National Shooting Centre on Sunday. India has not won an Olympic medal in shooting since 2012, and Bhaker is well placed to end that lean run.
A pistol malfunction during the qualifications at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 had reduced Bhaker to tears, but on Saturday, she put up a performance expected of an athlete who has won many medals on the international stage.
Standing at a distance, Bhaker’s personal coach Jaspal Rana could not stop his tears before saying that the job was only half done. “What happened today doesn’t matter anymore. Tomorrow is when it counts. We start afresh,” he told PTI, also pointing out the heat factor in the range with the air conditioning not being very effective.
“She needed to take time and drink a lot of water as it was hot,” he added.
While it was a moment to remember for Bhaker and Rana, 2016 Olympic champion Anna Korakaki, lined up next to the Indian shooter, struggled with fever before retiring midway into the session.
Bhaker shot as many as 27 inner 10s, the most in the field of 44. She took her time early on in the session, and seven 10s and three 9s in the opening series indicated that the Indian was at the top of her game.
Bhaker scored 97 in both the first and second series and remained in fourth place as Sangwan slipped to 26th after a poor outing.
The Haryana shooter got an 8 in the fifth series, her first bad shot in an otherwise excellent qualification, but she still remained in the mix and eventually made the final.
Barring Bhaker’s brilliant show, it was a forgettable opening day for the Indian shooters who could not reach the final of the men’s 10m air pistol and 10m air rifle mixed team events.
