Indian shooter Manu Bhaker, 22, secured a bronze medal in the women’s 10m air pistol event at the Paris Olympics on Sunday. This achievement makes her the first Indian woman shooter to earn an Olympic medal.
Bhaker’s performance was notable as she narrowly missed out on the silver, which went to South Korea’s Kim Yeji. Bhaker scored 221.7, while Kim achieved a score of 241.3. The gold medal was claimed by another South Korean, Oh Ye Jin, who set an Olympic record with a score of 243.2.
Manu Bhaker’s Olympic journey has been a mix of highs and lows. Three years ago, her Tokyo campaign was hindered by a defective pistol. Despite that setback, Bhaker’s current bronze is a testament to her resilience and skill.
Earlier in the competition, Bhaker performed impressively in the qualification round, finishing in third place with a score of 580. She also achieved the highest number of perfect scores (27) during this round.
Other Indian Achievements on Sunday
In badminton, PV Sindhu continued her strong performance by winning her first singles match in straight games. She defeated Maldives’ Fathimath Nabaaha in under 30 minutes.
In rowing, Balraj Panwar advanced to the quarterfinals in men’s single sculls, finishing second in the repechage with a time of 7:12.41.
Rifle shooter Ramita Jindal qualified for the final of the women’s 10m air rifle event, placing fifth in the qualification round with a score of 631.5.
In table tennis, Sreeja Akula won her Round-of-64 match against Sweden’s Christina Kallberg with scores of 11-4, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8. Manika Batra also advanced to the women’s singles second round by defeating Great Britain’s Anna Hursey 4-1.
Swimming saw notable performances with Srihari Nataraj finishing second in Heat 2 of the men’s 100m backstroke with a time of 55.01 seconds, moving on to the semifinals. Additionally, 14-year-old Dhinidhi Desinghu topped her women’s 200m freestyle heat with a time of 2:06.96, making her the youngest Indian athlete at the Olympics.
In shooting, Arjun Babuta qualified for the men’s 10m air rifle final. Boxer Nikhat Zareen progressed to the pre-quarterfinals of the women’s 50kg division after a 5-0 victory over Germany’s Maxi Kloetzer.
India’s athletes continue to perform strongly, bringing hope for more medals as the Games progress.
