Picking herself up from the depths of despair after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics disappointment, Manu Bhaker emerged the flagbearer of hope for Indian shooting in 2024 as she led the march towards India regaining a spot among Olympic heavyweights in the sport.
The odds were against Manu at the Paris Olympics, especially after the chain of events at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics, where a pistol malfunction stalled her progress.
After one point post the shocker, she even contemplated quitting the sport, but as she said during an interaction with budding shooters, Manu did want to live in regret of not giving herself another shot at Olympic glory, and the patience paid off.
But for the uncertainties of sport, India could have returned with a richer haul from the Paris Olympics, given that the country fielded its biggest contingent of 21 shooters across 15 events, but a beginning was made at least, and the future holds out hope.
It was Manu at the forefront as she led the campaign at the National Shooting Centre in Chateauroux with her twin bronze medals, and was ably supported by Sarabjot Singh and Swapnil Kusale.
With the distinction as the first Indian Olympian to win two medals at a single edition of the Games, Manu could have gone a step further with one more bronze at least, but it was not to be and she finished fourth in Women’s 25m Pistol.
There were other close shaves too like Arjun Babuta missing the podium narrowly in Men’s 10m Air Rifle and Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Maheshwari Chauhan losing the bronze medal match in Skeet Mixed team, but Paris 2024 wasn’t about dwelling on what could have been, but celebrating the exploits of Manu and the other bronze medallists, Sarabjot and Swapnil.
With a score of 580, which placed her third in qualification, Manu marched into the Women’s 10m Air Pistol final high on confidence. The chances of landing a medal in the high-quality field were high, and Manu lived up to expectations with a final score of 221.7 for the bronze medal.
It was then over to the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team, and Sarabjot proved to be the perfect partner to Manu in glory. The duo upset fancied names to make the final with a qualification score of 580 at third, and then shocked the fancied South Koreans with a 16-10 scoreline in the bronze medal match.
Before Swapnil Kusale took aim in Paris, the closest India had come to a medal in an 50m rifle event was Joydeep Karmakar’s 4th in prone at the 2012 London Olympics. Swapnil changed that piece of stat with bronze in Men’s 50m Rifle Three Positions.
The medal did not come easy as Swapnil had to step up many notches after finishing seventh in qualification with a score of 590. Holding nerve when it mattered, Swapnil justified his immense talent with a score of 451.4 in the final to finish third.
The exploits of the glorious trio have lit a flame, and hope floats that the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles will witness Indian shooters scale greater heights.