After a disappointing start for Indian shooters at the Paris Olympics, Manu Bhaker secured third place in the 10m Air Pistol Women’s qualification on Saturday.
The 22-year-old Bhaker scored 580, finishing third in the qualifications, with Hungarian ace Veronika Major claiming the top spot with a score of 582. The final is scheduled for Sunday.
Reduced to tears after her disappointing debut at the Tokyo Games three years ago, Manu Bhaker is now aiming to add an Olympic medal to her impressive resume.
A prominent shooter who gained international recognition at a young age, Bhaker appeared determined to leave her Tokyo memories behind, delivering a strong performance in the qualifications.
The Haryana shooter began brightly, scoring 97 points and taking the fourth spot at the end of Series 1.
Bhaker maintained her fourth position with another 97 in the second series, while Sangwan slipped to 26th after a poor round, including an 8. Bhaker then moved into the top two with an excellent 98 in her third series.
Despite an 8 in the fifth series, her first poor shot in an otherwise strong qualification, Bhaker stayed in contention and eventually made it to the final.
Rhythm Sangwan, also competing in the qualifiers, finished 15th with an overall score of 573-14x and did not qualify for the final.
Earlier, Sarabjot Singh and Arjun Singh Cheema showed some impressive moments but failed to qualify for the men’s 10m air pistol final. Sarabjot finished ninth with a score of 577 in the qualifications, while Arjun ended in 18th place with a score of 574.
In the 10m air rifle mixed team event, the Indian shooters were eliminated during the qualifications. Ramita Jindal and Arjun Babuta placed sixth with a combined score of 628.7, while Elavenil Valarivan and Sandeep Singh ended in 12th with a total of 626.3. Ramita and Babuta came close, sitting in fifth place with three shots left, but fell 1.0 point short of making it to the medal round.
