Manu Bhaker firmly carved her name in the Indian sporting historical records and became the first Indian athlete to win a medal in the ongoing Paris Olympic Games 2024. She achieved the bronze medal in the women’s 10-meter air pistol event. On 28th July 2024, this glorious event was held at the Paris Olympics.
In 2008, during the pistol fire event, Abhinav Bindra came out on top bagging the gold medal while Vijay Kumar grabbed the bronze medal. On the other hand, during London’s 10m air rifle championship held in 2012, Gagan Narang triumphed bronze medal. Since then, India continued to struggle to achieve in this category but finally, Manu Bhaker made it to attaining a bronze medal for the nation and making India proud.
Manu missed the Silver Medal with a Close Margin
The 22-year-old young Indian athlete achieved a bronze medal in the category of women’s 10-meter pistol event. And, after this glorious moment, Manu Bhaker became the first Indian woman to secure a shooting medal for India.
Despite giving her best Mannu Bhaker was unable to win the silver medal with a 0.1-point margin compared to South Korea’s Kim Yeji.
Receiving Hearty congratulations from Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and others
With Manu Bhaker’s triumphed victory, the nation boomed in celebration and joy. Especially, the Indian cricket fraternity was the first to heartily congratulate the 22-year-old talented shooter.
Popular cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Anil Kumble, Gautam Gambhir, and many others including Suryakumar Yadav congratulated Manu Bhaker. Also, many cricketers across the board have expressed their heartfelt appreciation for Manu achieving her bronze medal.
The Cricket God Sachin Tendulkar posted on his official X account to congratulate Manu Bhaker, saying: “Congratulations Manu Bhaker! Off the mark in the medal count and on the mark with your shooting skill and securing India’s glorious first medal at the Paris Olympics. And, Especially after bouncing back from the heartbreaking defeat in Tokyo, you have showcased your extraordinary spirit, perseverance, and determination to win a bronze at #Paris2024 and make India proud.”
Whereas the other senior cricketers like Virender Sehwag and Anil Kumble have posted the following on their official X account to appreciate Manu Bhaker on her glorious victory.
Here is what Virender Sehwag had posted saying “Heartily many congratulations to Manu Bhaker on achieving the bronze medal at the #ParisOlympics and you have made all of us very proud.”
Senior former player Anil Kumble posted “This is a surreal moment of celebration, pride, and joy for the entire nation! Congratulations Manu Bhaker for making history by winning the first medal for India at #Olympics2024.”
India’s new head coach Gautam Gambhir posted on his X account saying “Congratulations Manu Bhaker on achieving India’s first medal! You have made India proud!”
Manu Bhaker expresses coming back from heartbreaking defeat and reaching Victory
Earlier in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Manu’s rifle was defective and had a malfunctioning issue leading to disastrous performance and a heartbreaking defeat.
After that event, Manu had clashes and misunderstandings with her coach Jaspal Rana, and she was forced to part ways with him. Shockingly, she was thinking of retiring after that particular failure but fortunately didn’t do which has led her to this victory. In 2023, she reunited with her coach and created history in the Paris Olympics 2024 becoming the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal in the shooting category.
Manu Bhaker expressed after winning the bronze medal, saying: “After the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, I was too heartbroken and disappointed which took me a very long time to recover from that defeat and come back stronger. But honestly speaking, I cannot really explain or describe how happy I am feeling today.”
Indeed, with a score of 580 points Manu Bhaker secured her spot for the 2nd round and came up as 3rd (Bronze) amongst a total of 45 competitors. Manu Bhaker faced tough competition during her 2nd round against the South Korean shooters. Also, Manu was too close to achieving the silver medal but ultimately could win only the bronze medal which itself is an honor for India.
South Korea’s Oh Ye Jin with 243.2 points had achieved the glorious gold medal, while Kim Ye-ji with 241.3 points won the silver medal. On the other hand, Manu Bhaker with her 221.7 points was too close in attaining the silver medal but missed by the narrowest of margins.
Conclusion
It is a great celebration and joyous moment while the entire Indian Cricket Fraternity appreciates the 22-year-old young talented shooter Manu Bhaker. She bagged the bronze medal in the Paris Olympics 2024, which was a glorious victory attained after a heartbreaking defeat in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
