Indian shooter Manu Bhaker has entered the final in the 10m Air Pistol Women’s event after finishing third in the qualifying round.
She became the first Indian woman to reach an Olympic Shooting Final in an individual event in 20 years. She also became the first Indian woman to qualify for the 10m Air Pistol Women’s final at the Olympics.
India has sent its biggest-ever shooting contingent to the Olympics. The start to the campaign was somewhat disappointing as none of the two 10m Air Rifle Mixed Teams, Sandeep Singh/Elavenil Valarivan and Arjun Babuta/Ramita Jindal, were able to make it to the finals.
Sarabjot Singh and Arjun Singh Cheema represented India in the 10m Air Pistol Men’s event. They also failed to make it to the finals.
Rhythm Sangwan the second athlete in the 10m Air Pistol Women’s event finished 15th with a score of 573.
Manu Bhaker saved the day for the shooting contingent by displaying a fantastic performance. The 22-year-old shooter shot 580 points, just 2 points away from the top spot.
She was the only athlete in the qualifying round with 27 shots in the inner circle. Manu made a bright start with a total of 97 points in Series 1.
She scored 97 points in the second series as well. In the third series, she secured 98 points followed by 96 points each in the fourth, fifth, and sixth series.
The final will be played on Sunday at the National Shooting Center in Châteauroux. India has high hopes from the entire shooting contingent to secure multiple medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
After such a stellar performance in the qualifying rounds it looks like Manu will clinch the first medal for India at the 2024 Olympic Games.
The entire nation wishes her luck for the final on Sunday.