Manu Bhaker is on the cusp of a treble. Two bronze medals in her bag — the 10-metre air pistol individual and 10-metre mixed with Sarbajot Singh — the 22-year-old shooter will take a shot for her third in Chateauroux on Saturday.
She came up with one of her best performances in her favourite event, the 25m sports pistol, finishing second to book a place in the final.
After winning the second medal — the first sportsperson of independent India to achieve that at a single Olympic Games — Manu had hoped she would continue to get the people’s love even if she misfired in the 25-metre pistol.
In the qualifying round, she did not, and on Saturday, given the form she is in, Manu is expected to deliver. A change in the colour of the metal is very much on the cards.
Manu was in the top-three almost throughout the qualification phase of ‘precision’ and ‘rapid’ rounds, aggregating 590. It's her best score in the last two years. Hungary’s Veronika Major, who equalled the Olympic record score of 592,came first.
In the ‘precision’ round, Manu had scores of 97, 98 and 99. In the ‘rapid’, she shot a perfect 100, followed bytwo 98s.
It’s strange, how the scenario changed in three years. She left Tokyo in tears and here at the Paris Games, she is the toast of the Indian contingent. A patch-up with coach Jaspal Rana last year has done wonders for her confidence and form.
“Her life would change forever,” Gagan Narang, the London Olympic Games bronze medal winner in shooting who is in the French capital as India’s chef de mission, had told The Telegraph on Tuesday.
Manu’s sterling performance will also be a huge boost for women’s sport in the country. “We still have major issues with women in sports in India. That needs to change,” she had said on Tuesday.
Someone who looks up to celebrated athletes like javelin champion Neeraj Chopra and two-time Olympic medal winner PV Sindhu and idolises Olympic gold medal winner Abhinav Bindra, Manu has now become a role model herself.
India have won all three medals so far in shooting, with Swapnil Kusale taking the bronze in the 50m rifle three-positions on Thursday.
On Friday, a lot was expected from the 19-year-old Esha Singh, who shone brightly at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, but could do little in the qualification round.
She struggled to find her rhythm and had an aggregate score of 581 (291 in precision and 290 rapid) to finish18th among 40 shooters. With age on her side, she will learn from this experience and move forward.
The shotgun shooters continued to disappoint. Skeet marksman Anant Jeet Singh Naruka is in 26th position with a score of 68 after Day I of qualification. He fired three rounds of 25 each, which fetched him 23, 22 and 23. Two more qualification rounds will take place on Saturday.