Target practice

Chateauroux, July 27

Sport can be brutal at times and Manu Bhaker has experienced that on the biggest stage. Three years after the Tokyo heartbreak, she produced a supremely confident performance to redeem herself and enter the women’s 10m air pistol final at the Paris Olympics.

Barring Bhaker’s brilliant show, it was a forgettable opening day for the Indian shooters who could not reach the final of the men’s 10m air pistol and 10m air rifle mixed team events.

The 22-year-old from Jhajjar shot 580 to finish third in the qualifications in which Hungarian ace Veronika Major claimed the top spot with a score of 582. The other Indian in the field, Rhythm Sangwan, ended 15th with an underwhelming 573.

Bhaker, who was in control for the major part of the one-hour, 15-minute session, will have to maintain the same composure in the all-important final tomorrow.

India has not won an Olympics medal in shooting since 2012 and Bhaker is well placed to end that lean run.

A pistol malfunction in the qualifications at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 had reduced Bhaker to tears but today she put up an effort that is expected of an athlete who has won many medals on the international stage.

Standing at a distance, Bhaker’s personal coach Jaspal Rana could not stop his tears before saying that the job was only half done.

“What happened today doesn’t matter anymore. Tomorrow is when it counts. We start afresh,” he said before pointing out the heat factor in the range with the air conditioning not being the most effective.

“She needed to take time and drink a lot of water as it was hot,” he added.

While it was a moment to remember for Bhaker and Rana, 2016 Olympics champion Anna Korakaki, lined up next to the Indian shooter, struggled with fever before retiring midway into the session.

Bhaker shot as many as 27 inner 10s, the most in the field of 44. She took her time early on in the session and seven 10s and three 9s in the opening series indicated that the Indian was at the top of her game.

Bhaker got a 97 each in the first and second series and remained in fourth as Sangwan slipped to 26th after a poor outing.

The Haryana shooter got an 8 in the fifth series, her first bad shot in an otherwise excellent qualification, but she still remained in the mix and eventually made the final.

Earlier in the day, Sarabjot Singh felt the pressure on his Games debut to narrowly miss out on a final berth in the men’s 10m air pistol. Both he and Arjun Singh Cheema showed promise before finishing ninth and 18th with scores of 577 and 544, respectively.

Germany’s Robin Walter, who also shot 577, grabbed the last qualifying spot after managing to shoot one inner 10 (X) more than Sarabjot’s 16, leaving the Indian heartbroken.

Coach Samresh Jung tried to console him but Sarabjot knew he had missed an opportunity of a lifetime.

As many as 17 out of the 21 Indian shooters here are competing in the Olympics for the first time and are bound to feel pressure despite the best possible preparation. “There are only two types of people who don’t feel pressure. One are the dead and others are fools. He is neither dead nor a fool,” said Jung who expects Sarabjot to bounce back in the mixed team event. — PTI

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