The 16-year-old Manu Bhaker has once again lived up to her reputation of being the iconic shooter as she bagged India’s second gold at the Youth Olympics. Interestingly, she became India’s first woman to win a gold in the 10m Air Pistol event. Earlier in the day, weightlifter Jeremy Lalrinnunga shot into prominence when he opened India’s gold medal account by bagging top honours in the men’s 62kg category.
Though Manu Bhaker easily cruised through the qualifications round like a hot knife through butter, she was tasked with challenges in the final round. She may have slipped midway through the round, but she was calm and composed in her approach as she clinched gold with a score of 236.5.
Hailing from Haryana hogged the limelight after winning her first medal at the 2017 Asian Junior Championship. Going about her business, she won 9 gold medals at the 2017 Kerala national Games and she became the talk of the town when she trounced the World Cup medallist Heena Sidhu.
At the 2018 Commonwealth Games held at Gold Coast, Australia, Manu Bhaker did the country proud by winning the gold in women’s 10 m air pistol at an age of 16. She managed to score 388/400 points in the qualifying round and won a gold by setting a new iconic record at the CWG of 240.9 points.
Considering her achievements at such a young age, Manu Bhaker was proudly given the honour of being India’s flag-bearer at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Youth Olympics, held on streets of Buenos Aires. What a proud feeling!
