Shooter Manu Bhakar Clinches First Medal, a Bronze at Paris Olympics, PM Congratulates Her

Paris:  Manu Bhaker, the 10M Air Pistol shooter opened India’s medal tally in Paris Olympics 2024 as she  finished 3rd and, in the process, clinched the BRONZE medal in the women’s event. PM Modi called her and congratulated her on the occasion, being the First Indian to open the medals account for India at Paris.

Manu finished the final round with a score of 221.7. The Indian could have been in the gold medal encounter but she registered just 0.1 point lesser than the silver medalist in the 6^th shoot-off at Stage 2. That made her settle for the 3rd place finish.

Korea’s Kim Yeji eventually won the silver while Oh Ye Jin won the gold with an Olympic record. Manu becomes the first Indian female shooter to win a medal in Olympics, a day after she became the first female shooter to reach an Olympic final in an individual event in the last 20 years. This is India’s first medal in shooting since London Olympic Games 2012. Manu is also India’s first-ever Olympic medallist in the 10m Air Pistol event.

Manu Bhaker is the fifth Indian shooter to clinch a medal in the Olympic Games after Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (2004 Athens), Abhinav Bindra (2008 Beijing), Vijay Kumar (2012 London) and Gagan Narang (2012 London).

QUALIFICATION ROUND: Manu Bhaker fhad inished 3rd with a score of 580 in the qualification rounds, also shooting the highest number of Perfect Scores (27).  She became the 1st Indian female shooter to reach an Olympic Final in an individual event in the last 20 years! The last time was Suma Shirur, who reached the Final of the 10m Air Rifle event in Athens 2004.

Manu Bhaker is an Indian Olympian who competes in shooting. Born in Jhajjar, Haryana, a state known for its boxers and wrestlers, Manu Bhaker took to sports like tennis, skating and boxing in school. She also participated in a form of martial arts called ‘thang ta’, winning medals at the national level. She then impulsively decided to try her hand at shooting when she was just 14 – just after the 2016 Rio Olympics ended – and loved it.

Her Earlier Achievements are :Asian Games (2022)- Gold Medal in 25m Pistol Team

World Championship, Baku (2023)- Gold Medal in 25m Pistol Team

Asian Shooting Championship, Changwon (2023)- bagged Paris Games 2024 Quota with 5th finish in 25m Pistol.

World Cup, Bhopal (2023)- Bronze Medal in 25m Pistol

World Championship, Cairo (2022) – Silver Medal in 25m Pistol

World University Games, Chengdu (2021) – 2 Gold Medals in 10m Air pistol individual and womens team event.

In the 2018 International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup held at Guadalajara, Mexico. Bhaker won the gold medal in the Women’s 10-metre air pistol, defeating Mexico’s Alejandra Zavala, a two-time champion. (video credit-OneIndia News Channel)