New Delhi: Indian Shooting sensation Manu Bhaker missed a golden opportunity to clinch hat-trick of medals in the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024 after finishing fourth in the 25m pistol women’s shooting final on Saturday, August 3. The 22-year admitted that she was feeling nervousness during her final and failed to produce her best performance in the range.
Manu was placed for third place initially alongside former World record holder (25m pistol), Veronica Major of Hungary before she lost two crucial points in the shoot-off series against the Hungarian.
“I was very nervous in the final. Although I was trying on each shot things did not turn out to be very good for me. There’s always a next time and I’m already looking forward to the next one,” Manu said after missing the bronze medal on Saturday.
“I was trying my best to keep calm and try to do my best but that was not enough. I’m glad that I’ve won two medals but the fourth place is not a very good place to be in,” she added.
South Korea’s Yang Jiin secured gold medal with 37 points (via shoot-off-4-1) against the French shooter Camille Jedrzejewski who secured a silver medal.
Manu Opened up on whethere social media’s pressure was one of the reasons of her failure.
“Honestly, I’ve been off from social medal. I am not checking my phone at all. In most of the events, I was able to give my best performance but not in this one today,” said Manu.
After a shoot-off, Manu finished with 590-24x points, ranking second in the 60-shot qualification round on Friday. She recorded 294 in the precision stage and 296 in the rapid part.
Bhaker reflected on her success at Paris 2024, following the heartbreak she experienced at Tokyo 2020. “There has been a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes. I’m here but so many people have been working hard so I can make it to the podium, and so India can win a medal. I’m so happy that my entire team was there for me to support me throughout my journey. It has been great and I would like to thank every one of them, the OGQ team, the SAI team, the entire Ministry, and our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi ji, who took time off his busy schedule. My coach, Jaspal sir, my parents, my family, everyone. My friends, and the support staff at the range, I’m so grateful to every single one of you and I love you all so much. Keep cheering for India and next time, probably we can finish higher. Hoping for the best,” she said.
The double Olympic bronze medallist revealed that she will get to eat lunch as her event ends in the Paris Olympics 2024.
“To begin with, I will eat lunch because all these days I was not getting lunch. I was having breakfast and spending the entire day at the range. In the evening, I was able to eat. I will work even harder,” she concluded.
Earlier in the week, she won bronze medals in the women’s 10m air pistol and mixed 10m air pistol events (with Sarabjot Singh), becoming the first Indian woman shooter to win an Olympic medal and the first Indian to secure more than one medal in a single edition of the Games.
