Manu Bhaker of India poses with her bronze medal.
Credit: Reuters photo
Chateauroux: A resilient Manu Bhaker became the first Indian woman shooter to claim an Olympic medal by snaring a bronze in the 10m air pistol event here on Sunday, a triumph that opened the country's account in the Paris Games and ended a 12-year wait for its much-hyped shooters.
Rifle shooters Ramita Jindal and Arjun Babuta further lifted the spirits of the contingent at the scenic range, located nearly 300km away from Paris, by securing final spots in the 10m air rifle women's and men's event respectively to keep India in the hunt for more medals.
The scene here was in complete contrast to the Tokyo Olympics three years back when only 10m air pistol shooter Saurabh Chaudhary, among the 15 who had gone from India, made it to the final, only to fade into oblivion in the ensuing years.
Bhaker was part of that team and had gone home in tears after drawing a blank.
"After Tokyo I was very disappointed and it took me a very long time to overcome that. Frankly speaking, I really can't explain how good I am feeling today," Bhaker, whose pistol malfunctioned during the qualification of the same event three years ago, said with a wide smile on her face.
"In Bhagwat Gita, Krishna says to Arjuna that 'you focus on your karma and not on the outcome of the karma'. Only that was running in my head," she revealed when asked about her state of mind during the final.
The last time India won shooting medals at the Olympics was in 2012 London edition where rapid-fire pistol shooter Vijay Kumar and 10m air rifle marksman Gagan Narang clinched silver and bronze respectively. Narang is the chef de mission of the Paris contingent right now.
The 22-year-old Bhaker, who hails from Jhajjar in Haryana, fought hard to get the bronze with a score of 221.7 here. Korea's Kim Yeji claimed the silver with a total of 241.3 while her compatriot Jin Ye Oh bagged the gold with a Games record of 243.2.
"I was fighting with all the energy I have. Really grateful that I could win the bronze. I read Bhagwat Gita and always tried to do what I am supposed to do, left everything else to god.
"We can't fight destiny," added the world champion in 25m pistol event.
Bhaker was in the second position till the second last shot but the Indian fell behind after Yeji shot 10.5 in response to her 10.3, ruling her out of gold medal shoot-off.
Ramita qualifies for women's 10m air rifle final
Ramita shrugged off the disappointment of missing the mixed team final along with Babuta on Saturday to give a strong display of marksmanship and qualify for the women's 10m air rifle final in fifth place.
The Hangzhou Asian Games bronze-medallist, aggregated 631.5, while compatriot Elavenil Valarivan scored 630.7 to finish 10th and miss the eight-shooter final.
Ramita had a sluggish start and was not among the top-eight till the sixth and final series but she rallied superbly to book a berth in the final.
Stalwart Elavenil, who had finished 16th at the Tokyo Olympics three years back, held on to the fifth position for much of the qualification round.
But a poor last series of 103.8 saw the 24-year-old former junior world champion take a mighty tumble from fifth to 10th spot and miss the eight-shooter final.
Ramita, who had scored 636.4 points, 0.1 more than the world record during the Olympic Selection Trials in New Delhi and Bhopal, was patchy initially, shooting a below-par 104.6 in the opening series before she shot 106.1 in the next round.
Another ordinary 104.9 was followed by two successive 105.3 and a 105.7 which fetched her a dream entry into the final.
Arjun Babuta qualifies for 10m air rifle finals
Arjun Babuta secured a spot in the 10m air rifle final of the Olympic Games after finishing seventh in the qualification round here on Sunday.
The 25-year-old Babuta shot a series of 105.7, 104.9, 105.5, 105.4, 104.0 and 104.6 to make the cut with a score of 630.1 points.
He will take another shot at glory in the eight-shooter final on Monday after narrowly missing out on a final berth in the mixed team event with Ramita Jindal on Saturday, where the duo finished sixth in the qualification.
The Chandigarh-man, who has been in the national squad since 2016, has been a perennial underachiever before he came into national reckoning by clinching an Olympic berth at the Asian Shooting Championships last year in Changwon.
Army man Sandeep Singh shot 629.3 to finish 12th in the same event ending his Paris campaign, having achieved plenty of experience in his maiden Olympics after displacing world champion Rudrankksh Patil in the selection trials in April-May.