At the tender age of 22, India's star shooter Manu Bhaker has seen it all. She was the youngest ever Indian to win a gold medal in the ISSF World Cup back in 2018 but then, she also had to deal with massive disappointment after her pistol malfunctioned at Tokyo Olympics in 2021. World No.1 at the time, Bhaker couldn't qualify for the final of women’s 10m air pistol event and had to return home empty-handed.
The journey hasn't been easy for Manu Bhaker ever since took up shooting as her career. Her mother Sumedha Bhaker revealed in an interview with India TV recently that she had to leave her full-time job to make sure her daughter makes constant progress in her shooting career. Manu Bhaker's father was in the Merchant Navy and he used to be away from home for the majority of the days. Due to this, all the responsibility lied on her mother's shoulders who played a crucial role in Manu's progress and is, today a massive hope for India in the 21-member strong shooting contingent at the Paris Olympics.
Coming back to her disappointment in Tokyo, Manu has worked immensely hard since then to be ready for the Paris Olympics. Her mother revealed that Manu used to be in the shooting range preparing herself for the Games for around 8-9 hours daily. The shooter from Jhajjar, Haryana trained in Luxembourg along with the rest of the shooting contingent and will be hoping to bring glory to the nation in the shooting for the first time since 2012 Olympics.
Manu Bhaker's achievements in career
Manu Bhaker has won a staggering 15 gold medals in her career so far at all levels. She has dominated the World Cup almost every time winning nine gold and two silver medals. In 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Manu was the gold medallist.
Here is the list of her major achievements:
World Championships
Gold medal in 2023 Baiku in 25m pistol team event
Silver medal in 2022 Cairo in 25m pistol team event
Asian Shooting Championships
Gold medal in 2019 Doha Games in 10m air pistol event
Gold medal in 2019 Doha Games in 10m air pistol mixed team
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal in 2018 Goldcoast Games in 10m air pistol event
Youth Olympic Games
Gold medal in 2018 Buenos Aires Games in 10m air pistol event
Silver medal in 2018 Buenos Aires Games in 10m air pistol mixed team event
When will Manu Bhaker be in action at Paris Olympics 2024?
Manu Bhaker will be eyeing a historic medal in shooting from July 27 in 10m air rifle mixed team qualification round and 10m air pistol women's qualification.
