Manu Bhaker claims historic bronze; ends Indian shooting's 12-year Olympic drought

A resilient Manu Bhaker became the first Indian woman shooter to claim an Olympic medal by snaring a bronze in the 10m air pistol event here on Sunday, a triumph that opened the country's account in the Paris Games and ended a 12-year wait for its much-hyped shooters.

Rifle shooters Ramita Jindal and Arjun Babuta further lifted the spirits of the contingent at the scenic range, located nearly 300km away from Paris, by securing final spots in the 10m air rifle women's and men's event respectively to keep India in the hunt for more medals.

The scene here was in complete contrast to the Tokyo Olympics three years back when only 10m air pistol shooter Saurabh Chaudhary, among the 15 who had gone from India, made it to the final, only to fade into oblivion in the ensuing years.

Bhaker was part of that team and had gone home in tears after drawing a blank.

"After Tokyo I was very disappointed and it took me a very long time to overcome that. Frankly speaking, I really can't explain how good I am feeling today," Bhaker, whose pistol malfunctioned during the qualification of the same event three years ago, said with a wide smile on her face.

"In Bhagwat Gita, Krishna says to Arjuna that 'you focus on your karma and not on the outcome of the karma'. Only that was running in my head," she revealed when asked about her state of mind during the final.

The last time India won shooting medals at the Olympics was in 2012 London edition where rapid-fire pistol shooter Vijay Kumar and 10m air rifle marksman Gagan Narang clinched silver and bronze respectively. Narang is the chef de mission of the Paris contingent right now.

The 22-year-old Bhaker, who hails from Jhajjar in Haryana, fought hard to get the bronze with a score of 221.7 here. Korea's Kim Yeji claimed the silver with a total of 241.3 while her compatriot Jin Ye Oh bagged the gold with a Games record of 243.2.

"I was fighting with all the energy I have. Really grateful that I could win the bronze. I read Bhagwat Gita and always tried to do what I am supposed to do, left everything else to god.

"We can't fight destiny," added the world champion in 25m pistol event.

Bhaker was in the second position till the second last shot but the Indian fell behind after Yeji shot 10.5 in response to her 10.3, ruling her out of gold medal shoot-off.