Indian shooters Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh made history by securing a bronze medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team shooting event at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Tuesday.
This achievement marks India’s sixth Olympic medal in shooting and its first-ever in a shooting team event. Additionally, Manu Bhaker became the first athlete from independent India to win two medals in a single edition of the Olympics. On Sunday, she also became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal in shooting.
Competing at the National Shooting Center in Chateauroux, Bhaker and Singh triumphed over the Republic of Korea’s Oh Ye Jin and Wonho Lee with a score of 16-10 in the bronze medal match. Notably, Oh Ye Jin had previously won the gold medal in the women’s 10m air pistol event on Sunday.
Manu Bhaker started the match with a strong 10.2 on her opening shot, though Sarabjot Singh’s 8.6 initially put India behind by two points. However, Singh quickly recovered, shooting scores of 10.5, 10.4, and 10, which helped India take the next six points.
Bhaker maintained her form, hitting at least a 10 on her first seven shots. Despite Oh Ye Jin’s consistency, which kept the South Koreans in contention, India managed to stretch their lead from 8-2 to 14-10. On her final shot, Oh Ye Jin scored a 9, while her partner scored 9.5. Bhaker hit a 9.4, and Singh sealed the victory with a decisive 10.2.
“It’s great. The first medal was really good and again the fight was really tough,” said Manu Bhaker. “It was neck to neck with each shot, like with my first bronze. But the last shot was Sarabjot’s, so big up to him.”
The Indian duo had 19 of their 26 shots hit at least a 10, while the South Koreans had 12 shots hit a minimum of 10.
On Monday, Bhaker and Singh finished third in the qualifying round, advancing to the bronze medal match behind Turkiye’s Sevval Ilayda Tarhan-Yusuf Dikec and Serbia’s Zorana Arunovic-Damir Mikec. Serbia went on to win the gold medal with a 16-14 victory over Turkiye.
The top two teams from the field of 17 qualified for the gold medal match, while the third and fourth-placed teams competed for bronze.
India has now won two of its six Olympic medals in shooting at Paris 2024. The only other time Indian shooters won two medals in a single Olympic edition was in London 2012, where Gagan Narang (men’s 10m air rifle) and Vijay Kumar (men’s 25m rapid fire pistol) secured silver and bronze, respectively.
Indian shooters had not won any medals in the shooting events at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won India’s first Olympic medal in shooting with a silver in the men’s double trap at Athens 2004. Abhinav Bindra secured India’s only gold medal in shooting in the men’s 10m air rifle at Beijing 2008.
Manu Bhaker will also compete in the women’s 25m pistol event, scheduled to start on Friday. She is the only athlete from the 21-member Indian shooting team to participate in multiple individual events.
Prithviraj Tondaiman Finishes 21st in Men’s Trap
India’s Prithviraj Tondaiman finished 21st in the men’s trap qualification round, failing to progress to the six-man final from a field of 30 shooters. Tondaiman concluded with an overall score of 118/125 across five rounds over two days.
In the women’s trap event, which began on Tuesday, Indian shooters Rajeshwari Kumari and Shreyasi Singh both scored 68, placing them in 21st and 22nd positions, respectively, after Day 1.
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