Manu Bhaker created history at the Paris Olympics 2024.© AFP
22-year-old shooter Manu Bhaker won bronze in the women's 10m air pistol final, becoming the first Indian to win a medal in Paris Olympics 2024. Manu Bhaker also created history by becoming the first female Indian shooter to win an Olympic medal. Bhaker maintained an excellent standard from start-to-finish, showing incredible skill and composure and spending the majority of the event in the top 3. Bhaker opens India's medal tally at Paris, as the nation aims to eclipse their medal count of seven from Paris 2024.
Bhaker was 0.1 ahead in second heading into the final shot, but slipped to third after it. Bhaker finished on 221.7 points, hitting a 10.3 on her final shot, as silver medalist Yeji Kim hit a 10.5 This caused Bhaker to lose the second spot at the final gasp, being eliminated but still clinching bronze.
Bhaker's Supreme Qualification
Bhaker had qualified to the final in third position, having salvaged an underwhelming day for Indian shooting on Saturday, July 27. Bhaker shot 580 to finish third in the qualifications in which Hungarian ace Veronika Major claimed the top spot with a score of 582. The other Indian representative, Rhythm Sangwan, had ended 15th with a score of 573.
The Haryana shooter made a bright start with a total of 97 points to take the fourth spot at the end of Series 1.
Bhaker got a 97 in the second series too and remained in fourth as Sangwan slipped to 26th after a poor outing including an 8. But Bhaker was back in the top two after an excellent 98 in her third series.
Bhaker 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.
Ramita makes 10m air rifle final
India's Ramita Jindal gave a strong display of marksmanship to qualify for the women's 10m air rifle final in fifth place even as Elavenil Valarivan succumbed to pressure to miss out despite being among the contenders, finishing 10th at the Olympic Games in Chateauroux, France on Sunday. Ramita, the Hangzhou Asian Games bronze medallist in the event, aggregated 631.5 to become the second shooter from the country after pistol exponent Manu Bhaker to secure a berth in the final, while Elavenil scored 630.7.