Paris: Manu Bhaker narrowly missed the chance to become India’s first athlete to win three individual Olympic medals, yet she has indelibly inscribed her name in the annals of Indian sports history.
In a tense shoot-off, she was bested by Hungary’s Veronika Major, placing fourth in the women’s 25m pistol final at the Chateauroux shooting range on Saturday. Korea’s Jiin Yang clinched the gold, outshooting Camille Jedrzejewski of France.
The 22-year-old Indian shooter, who had already made history by winning two bronze medals in a single edition of the Olympics, finished with a score of 28.
After reconciling with the legendary shooter-turned-coach Jaspal Rana, Manu, who showed remarkable improvement, had previously secured the 10m women’s air pistol bronze and the 10m air pistol mixed team bronze alongside Sarabjot Singh.
Manu began the final in sixth place, hitting only two of her initial five shots. Early leaders Jedrzejewski, Rostamiyan, and Trinh each notched four hits, setting a challenging standard. In the second series, Manu hit four targets, advancing to fourth place. At this juncture, Yang was leading with eight hits, with Rostamiyan and Trinh close behind with seven hits each. With six hits, Manu was within reach of the lead.
Continuing her strong showing, Manu scored another four hits in the subsequent series. The final was tightly contested, with the second to sixth-place athletes all tied at 10 points. Yang maintained her lead with 13 points. Despite a promising start, Manu’s performance dipped slightly in the next series, hitting three targets and falling into a tie for sixth place with 13 points. Meanwhile, Yang increased her lead to 17 points, widening the gap.
On the brink of elimination, Manu showcased an outstanding performance by hitting all five shots under tremendous pressure. This impressive streak brought her to a third-place tie with Jedrzejewski, each scoring 18 points.
Yang was in the lead with 20 points, followed by Major in second with 19 points. Manu maintained her steady performance, hitting four out of five targets in the sixth series. Major’s disappointing performance, with only two hits, resulted in her falling to fourth place. Both Manu and Jedrzejewski took advantage of this, tying for second with 22 points each, just two points behind Yang.
In the seventh series, Manu continued to perform well, striking four targets. Jedrzejewski kept pace, while Yang managed three, narrowing her lead to a single point. The standings were as follows: Yang in first with 28 points, Manu and Jedrzejewski in joint second with 27 points each, and Major in fourth with 26 points.
However, scoring only two out of five in the eighth series led to a tiebreaker between Manu and Major, both at 28 points. Despite her valiant effort, Manu missed two shots, while Major missed only one, resulting in a fourth-place finish for Bhaker.
