Sport can be cruel at times, and Manu Bhaker has witnessed this on the highest stage. Three years after the Tokyo misery, she delivered a wonderfully confident performance to redeem herself and qualify for the women’s 10m air pistol final at the Paris Olympics on Saturday.
The 22-year-old from Jhajjar shot 580 and finished third in the qualifiers.
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She became the first Indian female shooter to reach an Olympic final in an individual event in the last two decades. Suma Shirur reached the final of the 10m Air Rifle event in Athens in 2004.
She was also the first Indian woman to qualify for the 10m Air Pistol Women’s final round at an Olympics.
Bhaker, who was in command for the majority of the one hour and 15 minute practice, will have to maintain his cool 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 positioned to overcome that drought.
A pistol malfunction during the qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 had brought Bhaker to tears, but on Saturday, she put out the effort demanded of an athlete who has won numerous medals on the world stage.
Standing back, Bhaker’s personal coach, Jaspal Rana, couldn’t stop crying before admitting that the task was just halfway done.
“What occurred today does not matter anymore. The real test will come tomorrow. “We start over,” he told PTI, before mentioning the heat in the range and the ineffective air conditioning.
“She needed to take time and drink a lot of water as it was hot,” according to him.
While it was a memorable occasion for Bhaker and Rana, 2016 Olympic winner Anna Korakaki, who was lined up next to the Indian shooter, battled with a fever and retired midway through the practice.
Bhaker scored 27 inner 10s, the most in the field of 44. She took her time early in the session, and seven 10s and three 9s in the first series showed that the Indian was on top of her game.
Bhaker scored 97 in both the first and second sets and remained fourth, while Sangwan dropped to 26th after a dismal performance.
The Haryana shooter received an 8 in the fifth series, her first weak shot in an otherwise brilliant qualification, but she remained in the running and eventually advanced to the final.
Aside from Bhaker’s outstanding performance, the Indian shooters’ opening day was forgettable, as they failed to get to the finals of the men’s 10m air pistol and 10m air rifle mixed team competitions.