India's wait for a medal in Paris finally ended on the second day with the 22-year-old Manu Bhaker completing her redemption arc after the disappointment at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago. Bhaker missed out on a Silver medal and potentially a fight for Gold as she fell short by just 0.1 points (221.7) after 22 shots and won the Bronze medal as the two Koreans secured the top two spots. Bhaker spoke exclusively to India TV in Paris after her Bronze medal win.
"Definitely, I was really, really happy that I could win a medal for my country. It was due for a long time and I hope that in the remaining 14-15 days, we win a lot of medals, not just in shooting but also in other events as well," Bhaker said on her feeling after clinching Bronze. "When you are there at the podium, you just feel that gratitude and you just realise that all that struggle and hard work was worth it and you just forget everything else because of the joy this medal provides and motivates you further to well in the future."
Bhaker took part in the qualifying event a day before and made it to the final featuring eight sport shooters in the medal event. When asked about how she was feeling just before the start of the finals, Bhaker quoted Bhagwad Gita while saying that she was in a zone to just focus on the job at hand rather than straying away from her path.
"I was very nervous but I was focused just on the job at hand. I didn't pay attention to the announcements or the scoreboard and when the bronze medal was actually announced, then only I got to know what was actually happening. And time and again, I was reminding myself of just being Arjuna, focusing on my work and what I had to do rather than the result," Bhaker added.
It has been a difficult journey of three years for Bhaker, who was devastated after the Tokyo Olympics as she failed to make it to the medal round due to pistol malfunction and admitted that it took her a long time to recover from that, especially since the whole shooting contingent returned empty-handed but her family and coach Jaspal Rana picked her up and got her to the position where she is now.
"I was a bit hurt and disappointed at the time because I wasn't able to do what I could have done. And a lot of things happened, especially with the whole shooting contingent returning empty-handed, so I was feeling really bad because we let a golden opportunity go. That disappointment and hurt stayed with me for a long time but now there's no such thing. Now I just look ahead and what's in front. What is done, is in the past now," Bhaker said while mentioning that she has learned to be courageous from her coach Rana and that he always keeps her on her toes.
"A lot of things change with age and experience and one thing I believe in religiously is that success doesn't teach you as much the failure does," Bhaker added.
After the Bronze in women's individual 10m pistol, Bhaker is set to compete in women's 25m pistol and 10m pistol mixed team event and said that she will give her everything and that the result will take care of itself.
