Age is just a number! Sixteen-year-old Manu Bhaker proved this proverb correct as she surprised everybody with her splendid show in the ongoing International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Mexico. The young shooter showed nerves of steel as she overcame a 1.4 point deficit on the last shot to win the gold in Women’s 10m Air Pistol event on Sunday.
The Indian shooter defeated home-favourite Alejandra Zavala Vazquez in the women’s 10m Air Pistol final. Despite being up against some of the best shooters of the world, Manu showed no signs of nervousness and take brilliant last two shots to give India their second gold of the tournament.
Recently, Bhaker has also earned a quota place for herself in the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games scheduled for October. However in the finals, the shooter from Haryana needed some luck and a strong finish to overcome home favourite Alejandra Zavala, a two-time World Cup Finals winner.
In the last shot of the day, Bhaker responded with an impressive 10.6 while Zavala hit a lowly 8.8 to hand the gold medal to the Indian with a final score of 237.5. Zavala ended with 237.1 while Celine Goberville of France won the Bronze with a score of 217.0. India’s Yashaswini Singh Deswal missed out on a medal, finishing fourth with 196.1.
At the end of day two in shooting world cup, India have firmly placed on top of the medals tally in the year's first ISSF) World Cup stage in Mexico. India’s medal tally now stands at five with two Gold medals and three bronze, the latest coming in the 10m Air Rifle event. Shahzar Rizvi and Jitu Rai had won gold and bronze in the Men’s 10M Air Pistol and Mehuli Ghosh won bronze in the Women’s 10M Air Rifle on the first day of competitions on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, shooter Ravi Kumar bagged a bronze to win his first-ever World Cup medal in the 10m Air Rifle event. Kumar ended with a final score of 226.4 to beat compatriot Deepak Kumar in a shoot-off for the third and fourth place. Ravi had made it to three finals last year, including in the World Cup Finals, but had failed to bag a medal.
Reacting after winning the medal, Manu Bhaker said, “ I am extremely happy at winning Gold, especially as this is my first World Cup. I look forward to perform even better in upcoming competitions.”
