Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Indian shooter Manu Bhaker remained on course for an unbelievable third individual medal at the Paris Olympics 2024. Manu Bhaker qualified in 2nd place for the women 25m pistol event with a combined score of 590-24x with only Hungarian shooter Veronika Major with a total of 592-27x doing better.
Manu Bhaker will now be gunning to become the first-ever Indian sportsperson to win three individual medals from a single edition of the Olympic Games. She had earlier equalled Norman Pritchard’s 124-year-old record by become the first Indian to win two individual medals at the Olympics – having won the 10m air pistol bronze medal and the 10m air pistol mixed team bronze medal with Sarabjeet Singh.
However, the other Indian shooter in the fray in the same event, Esha Singh could only manage a 18th place finish with a total of 581-17x combined score in Precision and Rapid qualifying event. Only the top 8 out of the 40 shooters qualified for August 3’s final.
Meanwhile, Union Sports Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports Mansukh Mandaviya, felicitated six outstanding shooters post their return to the country from Paris. The star of the event was Sarabjot Singh, who secured a bronze medal in the 10m Air Pistol mixed team event alongside Manu Bhaker. Sarabjot was awarded a cheque of Rs 22.5 lakh by Mandaviya as part of the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports’ cash award scheme.
