Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh won bronze in the 10m air pistol mixed team event, defeating South Korea 16-10 at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday. It made Bhaker the first Indian athlete to win two medals in a single edition of the Olympics.
Manu Bhaker made history by winning her 2nd medal at a single Olympic Games, as she clinched a bronze medal in the 10m mixed team pistol event, partnering Sarabjot Singh. Manu had earlier won the 10m individual bronze as well. For Sarabjot, this is his first medal, after agonisingly missing out in the final in the individual event.
India last won two shooting medals at a single Summer Games edition at London 2012. Gagan Narang, one of the two medallists in London, bagged his men’s 10m air rifle bronze exactly 12 years ago.
The Indian pair didn’t get off to the brightest of starts, losing the first series. But the two quickly bounced back to lead 4-2 after the third series and extended it to 8-2 after five. However, South Korea closed the gap to 6-10 after the eighth series. But the Indian duo held its nerve to cruise to victory with a comfortable margin.
From Tokyo’s heartbreak to historic triumphs in Paris:
Manu Bhaker had earlier faced disappointment due to a malfunction of her pistol during the Tokyo Olympics. She has now redeemed herself with stellar performances in Paris.
Reflecting on her journey since Tokyo, Bhaker remarked, “After Tokyo, I was very disappointed, and how the events turned out to be for me were not very good. It took me a long time to overcome that. However, I came back stronger. So what is now is what matters. Let’s just let the past remain in the past.”
In her previous event at the same venue, Bhaker secured a bronze medal in the women’s 10m air pistol, eliminating the bitter memories of her Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020.
Sarabjot Singh’s redemption:
Sarabjot Singh became the Indian to win a bronze at the Paris Olympic Games alongside Manu Bhaker.
Sarabjot Singh scripted his redemption in the 10m pistol mixed event by winning a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics 2024 alongside Manu Bhaker. A few days ago, Sarabjot had a heart-breaking debut at the Games as he missed out on the final berth in the men’s 10m pistol event on Saturday, July 27, by a whisker.
However, the fairytale ending happened after he had a hard time at the shooting center earlier. The Indian shooter finished in the ninth spot amongst 33 athletes with a score of 577-16x in the Men’s 10m air pistol qualification. He lost the eighth spot to Germany’s Robin Walter by a tiny margin, as both men had the same average by the end of the series.
Manu has a chance to bag a third medal:
An unprecedented third Olympic medal will be on the cards for her in the women’s 25m pistol event, starting on Friday, August 2. This is how Manu can set yet another record in history by getting his third medal.
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