Tokyo Olympics 2020: Manu Bhaker, Rahi Sarnobet crash out of 25m pistol tournament

India’s shooting campaign in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 worsened with both Manu Bhaker and Rahi Sarnobet crashing out of medal contention in the 25m pistol event. At the end of the first day, Manu Bhaker was in a great position having finished fifth. But, Sarnobet had struggled and was in 18^th position by the end of the day. In the precision event on day 2, Sarnobet continued to struggle while Manu was still in with a chance.

If one has to look at Sarnobet’s position, she needed to shoot three perfect rounds to stay in contention. But, lacking momentum and confidence, Sarnobet could manage only 286 in the precision round to crash out. But, for Manu, a similar trend occurred which cost her the chance to enter the medal round. It was the same trend that resulted in disaster in the 10m air pistol mixed event as well.

Manu Bhaker and her errors in Tokyo Olympics 2020

In the 10m air pistol mixed event, Manu Bhaker buckled under pressure and made many unforced errors. In her first precision series, she shot the 10 six out of seven times. A disastrous eight shot pegged her back. But, she still ended the first series with a solid 96. In the second series, Manu was in her element. She shot seven consecutive 10s but ended it with three consecutive nines. At that time, Manu was in the fifth position and in real strong contention for qualifying for the medal round. Despite the three nines, she slipped to ninth but was still in a good position.

But, pistol shooting is a game of fine margins. The other competitors had upped their game and were consistently getting into a rhythm. Manu stayed in contention until the 55^th shot when she hit a 10. With 49 points out of 50, she needed to keep her last five shots precise. But, another disastrous eight spelled the death knell for Manu. She immediately slipped outside of the top 10 and ended up missing the qualifying spot by one point.

India’s shooting campaign goes from bad to worse

Sarnobet, who had a good run in the ISSF World Cup in Croatia before the Tokyo Olympics 2020, will be ruing her inconsistency on the final day. Compared to Manu, her 10 scores were not as high. When she hit two nines and an eight in the first series, she was already facing an uphill task. But, in the second series, when her 44^th shot yielded a six, she was down and out.

For Manu, it was a campaign of so near yet so far. A gun malfunction in the 10m air pistol individual event saw her exit in the most heartbreaking circumstances. Things only got worse for her when she crashed out in the 10m air pistol mixed event with Saurabh Chaudhary. She faltered at the wrong time and was under severe pressure to maintain the momentum. In this event, Manu tried her best to ensure that she stayed in contention but one bad shot saw her tumble out of the event.

With this, Manu’s campaign in Tokyo 2020 Olympics is over. A massive chance has now gone begging. She will have another chance in the 2024 Paris Olympics. India’s shooting challenge has now wilted down to Tejasvini Sawant, Aishwary Pratap Singh, and Sanjeev Rajput in the 50m rifle three positions event. But, for India, the largest shooting contingent sent for the games is now in danger of coming back to Tokyo Olympics 2020 empty-handed.