Manu Bhaker became the first Indian in the post-Independence era to win two medals in a single Olympics.
New Delhi: Manu Bhaker revealed her chat with father Ramakrishna about how to handle pressure and keep calm in the final after she combined with Sarabjot Singh to bring India’s first-ever shooting medal in a team event at Olympics. The Indian duo defeated South Korea 16-10 in the bronze-medal match to ensure the country’s second medal at the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024. India’s first medal in this year’s Olympics also came through Manu when she won the 10m air pistol bronze two days back.
“I feel proud and lot of gratitude… It is just blessings. Thanks for all the blessings and love. We can only control what is in our hands. I had a chat with my father regarding this (handling pressure) and decided we will keep fighting till the last shot. We just wanted to give our best,” Manu said after winning bronze.
Ambala shooter Sarabjot, who passed through a difficult phase trying to come to terms with the disappointment of the individual competition just three days back, said he was under a lot of pressure to perform. “I’m feeling good, the game was very tough and there was a lot of pressure, I am very happy,” said the 22-year-old Sarabjot, who comes from a farming family.
The Indians started on the wrong foot with Sarabjot’s opening shot fetching a poor 8.6, while Bhaker shot 10.2 for an aggregate of 18.8. The Koreans aggregated 20.5 to take the opening round and open a 2-0 lead. In mixed team events, the pair that reaches 16 points first wins the medal.
Down 0-2, Bhaker’s consistency came to the fore and it rubbed off on Sarabjot as the pair took the next four rounds to take their tally to 8-2. Bhaker had just three shots below 10 in the entire contest which lasted 13 rounds. It was an uphill task for the Koreans who succumbed to pressure and could not match their rivals losing 16-10.
