Although a medal was beyond her reach, Manu Bhaker earned the crucial Paris Olympics 2024 quota for India.
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At the Asian Shooting Championships 2023 in Changwon, Korea, ace pistol shooter Manu Bhaker brought laurels to the nation as she bagged the nation’s 11th quota for the Paris Olympics 2024. Competing on Saturday in the women’s 25m sports pistol event, the Indian shooter, who had previously secured the Tokyo 2020 Olympics quota, finished with a score of 24 in the final round. Despite a strong performance, Bhaker was edged out in a tiebreaker, narrowly missing a shot at another international medal.
Although the podium was dominated by shooters from China, who occupied the first four positions, only one Olympic quota could be claimed by the country. With Iran’s Haniyeh Rostamiyan earning second place and already having an Olympic quota to her name, Manu Bhaker’s fifth-place finish was enough to ensure an Olympic berth for India. Throughout the competition, Bhaker remained a serious contender. A challenging seventh and eighth series, scoring two and three respectively, led to a tiebreaker against China’s Zhao Nan for the fourth spot. Although a medal was beyond her reach, Manu Bhaker earned the crucial Paris Olympics 2024 quota for India.
Post her event, Manu Bhaker shared her thoughts. She stated, “The aim was obviously the quota place, because there are few chances left to win them after this. So, yes, I am happy that I have won the quota but a podium finish would have been better. I have been working on a few improvements and I feel I am on the right track but will need to work even harder from here.”
Manu Bhaker is now the second Indian shooter, following 10m air pistol specialist Sarabjot Singh, to collect a pistol event quota in the upcoming Paris Olympics. India’s shooters have performed admirably, with seven quotas from rifle events and two each in shotgun and pistol across both male and female categories. Under the guidance of legendary shooter Jaspal Rana, Bhaker had previously competed in the Tokyo Olympics in both the 10m air pistol and 25m sports pistol events. Unfortunately, an equipment failure in Tokyo barred her from the finals in the women’s 10m pistol individual event.
This time, Bhaker performed exceptionally well in the qualification rounds of the women’s 25m pistol event, leading with a score of 591 as she outshined her fellow Indian competitors, Esha Singh and Rhythm Sangwan, who finished 17th and 23rd. Bhaker, alongside Esha and Rhythm, claimed second in the 25m pistol team event. Additionally, Divyansh Singh Panwar, paired with Ramita Jindal in the 10m air rifle mixed team, narrowly missed gold, finishing second to a Chinese team after a well-fought gold medal match by 12-16.
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