The supremely confident Manu Bhaker was at the top of her game as she entered the women’s 10m air pistol final, saving the day for Indian shooting after a dismal start by her compatriots at the Olympic Games on Saturday. Bhaker, 22, shot 580 to finish third in the qualifiers in which Hungarian ace Veronika Major took first place with a score of 582. The other Indian representative, Rhythm Sangwan, finished 15th with a score of 573. The final will be held on Sunday. Reduced to tears after her forgettable appearance at her Games debut in Tokyo three years ago, Bhaker is trying to add an Olympic medal to her stellar CV.
A prominent shooter, who gained international recognition for his exploits in the sport from a young age, Bhaker seemed determined to keep the memories of Tokyo behind him and performed excellently in qualifying.
The Haryana shooter got off to a brilliant start with a total of 97 points and reached fourth position at the end of Series 1.
Bhaker also managed a 97 in the second series and remained in fourth place, while Sangwan dropped to 26th after a poor outing, including an 8. But Bhaker was back in the top two after an excellent 98 in his third series.
Bhaker managed an 8 in the fifth series, her first bad shot in an excellent qualifier, but she still remained in contention and eventually reached the final.
Indians bow with men’s 10m air pistol
Earlier, Sarabjot Singh and Arjun Singh Cheema shone in patches but failed to reach the men’s 10m air pistol final along with both the mixed 10m air rifle teams in a disappointing start for the Indian shooters.
Sarabjot finished ninth with a total score of 577 in qualifications, while Arjun finished well behind in 18th with 574.
German Robin Walter, who also scored 577, won the last (eighth) spot in qualification after managing to score an internal 10 (X) more than Sarabjot’s 16.
A perfect 100 in the fourth series propelled 22-year-old Sarabjot into the top three after a poor start, but he could not maintain the momentum and failed.
Cheema hit 10 perfect 10s in his last 10 shots, which took him to fourth position, but he also lost his way after promising too much.
Disappointment in mixed rifle event
Earlier in the day, the Indians were eliminated in the 10m air rifle mixed team qualifying round.
Ramita Jindal and Arjun Babuta finished sixth with a total score of 628.7, while Elavenil Valarivan and Sandeep Singh finished 12th with an aggregate score of 626.3.
The pair Ramita and Babuta came close and placed fifth with three shots remaining, but were 1.0 points below the medal round threshold.
Shooters from China, Korea and Kazakhstan dominated the qualifiers.
China ended up winning the first gold medal of the Games in this event, after qualifying as the best team for the finals.
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