Three years ago, Manu Bhaker suffered through a disappointing Olympic campaign at Tokyo. Although she qualified for the final in women’s 10m air pistol event, her weapon malfunctioned at an important moment and sent her home without a medal. That setback proved decisive. After reaching out to Jaspal Rana – her longtime coach – in order to reignite her passion and seek redemption she began working alongside Jaspal Rana which ultimately lead to India winning its inaugural ever Olympic shooting medal since London – bronze at 2024 Paris Olympics event which etched her name into history!
Bhaker’s bronze medal performance at the Olympics marked India’s greatest Olympic performance ever; she now looks set to break another solitary record: no Indian shooter had previously won more than two medals since independence. As soon as this week ends, Haryana shooter Bhaker will make another bid at glory when competing in men’s 50m rifle three positions and women’s 25m pistol events respectively.
Bhaker was delighted to win bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol final and received messages of congratulations from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind, but Rana didn’t take credit for her victory; rather he felt most satisfied by Bhaker’s dedication and hard work rather than its results.
Rana had assisted Bhaker in building her mental strength prior to the Games. Her octogenarian coach would set ambitious targets – such as 582 out of an ideal 600 score in air pistol – and punish any failure with fines of four Euros per point short of her target.
Rana also helped Bhaker manage the pressure associated with winning Olympic medals, teaching her to remain calm and focus on the process rather than its outcome. Additionally, he encouraged her to seek new challenges – such as competing alongside Sarabjot Singh for gold in mixed team 10m air pistol event.
On 30 July, Indian duo is scheduled to compete in 10m air pistol mixed team event. Qualifying top four teams will advance to medal match. Live telecast of this event can be found on Sports 18.
