Chateauroux (France): After missing out on a chance to win a third medal at the Paris Olympics by a whisker, a candid Manu Bhaker admitted she allowed the pressure to get the better of her for the first time in a week at the Chateauroux Shooting Range.
Bhaker, having already created history by becoming the first Indian athlete to win two medals at a single Olympics after bagging a bronze each in the 10m air pistol individual and 10m air pistol mixed team, was almost on the verge of completing a hat-trick before a poor series of shots in the eighth round and then an error-prone show in a shoot-off against Veronika Major of Hungary saw her finish fourth.
“The match was a rollercoaster for me,” Bhaker said at the mixed zone. "Beginning was not so great but eventually I caught up with the others. I was trying my best and I was okay. I just telling myself to keep trying and stay in the race. I think the nerves got the better of me, I don’t know. I was trying hard but things were not going my way. Unfortunately I had to finish fourth which is better than not making it to the final. Definitely looking forward to overcoming this in the next cycle.”
Bhaker said fourth place hurts but she doesn’t regret as she gave it her all in the final. “Fourth position definitely does not feel amazing. But there’s always a next time and it’s going to be there for me. Now I have two medals and that’s a lot of motivation to work on the next time. I will try my best and work really hard so that I get a better finish. I have no regrets because I tried my best. Grateful to have won two medals for the country.”
Throughout the week where Bhaker competed in three events that involved physically and mentally exhausting qualification rounds, the youngster was a picture of confidence. She entered the final in all three of her events, winning a bronze each in two of them. In the process she also became the first female shooter from India to stand on an Olympic medals podium.
When asked what was the difference between the low of Tokyo where she was reduced to a wreck to the high of Paris where she was always flashing her photogenic smile, Bhaker attributed it to improved confidence. “One major difference here was the confidence. In Tokyo I was not confident at all and I was scared of everything. This time around I felt much more confident and matured with my experience also. A major part of that should go to my coach Jaspal (Rana) sir.
“Because of him I feel so confident. He makes training so difficult that in matches I deliver what I’ve learnt in training. If you try to grasp the best out of the experiences, like the victories and training, it can teach you a lot. Jaspal sir does a great job in keeping me level-headed.”