Two’ good Manu etches history with double bronze in Paris

Manu Bhaker-Sarabjot Singh outsmart Korea 16-10 to grab the 10m mixed team pistol bronze medal; Manu has become the first athlete from India to win two medals at the same Olympic Games

Published on:

31 Jul 2024, 2:33 am

CHATEAUROUX:Team India overcame some early jitters as Sarabjot Singh gave Manu Bhaker some timely support to win the Paris Olympics 10m mixed team pistol bronze medal at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre here on Tuesday.

India scored an emphatic 16-10 win against Korea to win their second medal of the Summer Games as Bhaker made history for becoming the first Indian woman to clinch more than one medal in a single Olympics.

Serbia scored a stunning come-from-behind 16-14 victory against Turkey. In a sensational turn of events, Serbia’s Zorana Arunovic and Damir Mikec overturned an 8-2 deficit to leave Turkey’s Sevval Ilayda Tarhan and Yusuf Dikec in their wake. Interestingly, this was Turkey’s maiden shooting medal in an Olympics.

It’s turning out to be a dream Olympics for Manu Bhaker at Paris 2024. She won the 10m sports pistol bronze on Saturday to end a medal drought that started at Rio 2016 and continued through Tokyo 2020.

“Tokyo was not great for me at all. This has been a great Olympics. Lots of gratitude to God and all those who supported and loved me. It’s been a dream run but I want to focus on my next event,” Bhaker said.

Bhaker will compete in the 25m sports pistol qualifiers on August 2. It is one of her favourite events and she is the reigning Asian Games champion. Bhaker had also won the gold medal at the 2023 Baku world championships.

For Tuesday’s bronze medal win, credit should go to 22-year-old Singh, who has emerged from the Khelo India ecosystem and one who has been very well supported by the government’s Target Olympics Podium Scheme.

More importantly, he overturned his disappointment of not qualifying in the 10m air pistol finals by the barest of margins. “I slept early and just had a quick chat with Manu yesterday. We decided to do our best and let the results take care of themselves,” said Singh, who deservingly sported a broad grin.

Singh showed some early nerves. While Manu continued her good form starting with a 10.2 in Round 1, the son of a Punjabi farmer, started with 8.6. The Korean mixed team comprising Paris 2024 10m sports pistol champion Jin Ye Oh and the left-handed Wonho Lee grabbed early advantage, leading 2-0.

In the air pistol medal rounds, the team reaching 16 points first and managing to keep a two-point cushion, wins the race. India were quick to recover largely due to Manu’s consistency and regular scores of 10+.

With India leading 8-2 and comfortably placed, Korea took the first time out and recovered briefly to cut the Indian lead to 10-6. This time India took the time out and that small breather gave Singh to take a deep breath and sharpen his focus. “Yes, there was a lot of hype and pressure building up,” admitted the Olympics debutant. A hattrick of 10s from Singh gave India advantage.

Bhaker faltered in Round 8 with an unusually poor 8.3 but Korea could not grab advantage in those tense moments. The Koreans saved three match points (14-6, 14-8 and 14-10) but the Indians were not to be denied. A 10.2 from Singh and a 9.4 from Bhaker in the 13th round were good enough to seal the bronze.

Singh’s contribution to India’s second medal at Paris 2024 was lauded by Gagan Narang. On July 30 at London 2012, Narang had won a bronze medal in the 10m sports rifle. He is now the chef-de-mission of the Indian contingent here at Paris 2024. Narang said Singh’s brilliant turnaround will have a cascading effect on the rest of the shooting team.

“The first medal is very important. It energises the contingent and lifts the morale of the entire team. That’s what Manu’s first medal did. Sarabjot’s comeback is a lesson for those who miss medals narrowly but still have a fire in their belly,” said Narang to Herald.

That fire was really seen in Serbia’s performance against Turkey in the gold medal match. Turkey got off to a blistering start and Serbia looked down and out, trailing 8-2. Then after a time out, the comeback started and what a telling story unfurled.

Serbia levelled at 10-all with their shooters firing all guns and then took the lead 12-10. Turkey went neck-and-neck till 14-all. It couldn’t have been closer. Then Damir’s 10.7 made the difference in a gasping finish as Serbia won 16-14.

India didn’t start well in the women’s trap qualifiers. After Day 1 of the qualification rounds, India’s Rajeshwari Kumari and Shreyasi Singh were joint 21st with identical scores of 68 each. On Day 2 on Wednesday, they have to do something extraordinary to make the top six and make the finals. In the men’s trap qualification, India’s Prithviraj Tondaiman finished 21st in a field of 30.