Olympics: Manu Bhaker shoots to win bronze in 10m air pistol
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Paris: India grabbed its first Paris Olympics 2024 medal after woman shooter Manu Bhaker won a bronze medal on Sunday. Bhaker became the first woman shooter ever to win an Olympic medal, The Indian Express reported.
In the 10m air pistol event, Bhaker was only 0.1 point short of the silver medalist Kim Yeji, a Korean, while the latter’s compatriot Oh Ye Jin claimed the gold.
Three years ago, Bhaker had a disastrous game at the Tokyo Olympics after her pistol malfunctioned. The 22-year-old is a nine-time World Cup medalist and is only the fifth Indian shooter to win an Olympic medal.
Manu Bhaker had finished third on the first day in the women’s 10m air pistol event with a score of 580 in the qualification rounds. She had shot the highest number of perfect scores (27) in the qualification to reach the final.
Bhaker became the first Indian woman to qualify for the 10m air pistol women’s final round at any Olympics. She is the first Indian woman shooter to reach the Olympic final in an individual event in the last 20 years.
It was Suma Shiru, in 2004, the last woman shooter to reach the Olympic final in the 10m air rifle event at the Athens Olympics in Greece.
Before the Paris Olympics, Gagan Narang won bronze in men’s 10m air rifle and pistol shooter Vijay Kumar won silver in men’s 25m rapid fire pistol. In 2004, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won silver in men’s double trap at the Athens Olympics. It was in the 2008 Beijing Olympics; India won the first-ever individual gold medal through Abhinav Bindra. He won the shining medal for the 10m air rifle.