Paris: Following his landmark bronze medal win with Manu Bhaker in the mixed team 10 m air pistol event at the Paris Olympics 2024, shooter Sarabjot Singh said that standing on the podium is a feeling that he cannot express, saying that it is a “next level vibe”.
India’s shooting ace Manu Bhaker made history on Tuesday when she became the first Indian woman to win two medals at the same Olympics. Bhaker and her partner Sarabjot Singh secured bronze in the 10 M air pistol mixed team event. Earlier, Bhaker had won bronze in the women’s individual 10M air pistol event.
Speaking to ANI following the win, Sarabjot said that he feels happy to have won a medal for his country.
“It feels great that I have won an Olympic medal for the first time for my country. I gave my best. I hope I will give my best in the next Olympics,” said Sarabjot.
On standing at the podium after receiving a medal, Sarabjot said, “The feeling is something you cannot express. I felt goosebumps. It is a next level vibe.”
On the partnership with Manu, Sarabjot said that though he does not talk to her much because they often play separate events at different timings, the only talk they had before the match was telling each other to give their best.
“We do not really talk to each other a lot since we play different events, there are different timings. Our team was formed in 2019 nationals, won a lot of medals together. We talked about giving our best,” he said.
Manu-Sarabjot beat South Korea’s Lee Wonho and Oh Ye Jin 16-10 in the bronze medal play-off match. With this medal, India’s medal tally increases to two at the Paris Olympics. Both Bhaker and Sarabjot shot consistently with regular 10s in the series against the Koreans.
Earlier on Monday, Manu-Sarabjot secured 580-20x points in total to finish third, The gold medal match will take place between Turkiye (582-18x) and Serbia (581-24x).
In the qualification round of the mixed team 10 m air pistol event, each member of a team got to shoot a total of 30 shots in a time span of 30 minutes. Each series of shots consists of 10 shots per player and 20 in total. The top four teams got the privilege of qualifying for medal rounds, with the top two teams playing for gold and the third and fourth-placed teams locking horns for bronze.
Manu-Sarabjot, sat at six with 193 points, with Manu getting 98 and Sarabjot getting 95. In their second series, Manu and Sarabjot secured a total of 195 points, with Manu getting 98 and Sarabjot getting 97.
In their third series, Manu-Sarabjot secured 192 points, with Manu getting 95 points and Sarabjot getting 97 points.
At the end of all three series, Manu-Sarabjot had the final score of 580-20x.
