When Manu Bhaker Contemplated Giving Up Shooting To Pursue Higher Studies

New Delhi: For the world’s most populous country, 10 medals is indeed a very modest target for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

But when you consider that India’s best haul in a single Games so far has been 7 medals – in Tokyo three years ago – it looks to be a reasonable target.

And on the very second day, young shooter Manu Bhaker got India off the mark with a bronze medal in the Women’s 10m Air Pistol event.

Not only did Manu become India’s first female shooter to bag an Olympic medal, she helped the country end a 12-year medal drought.

Just as significantly, Manu maintained the tradition of a woman sportsperson bagging India’s first medal for the third straight Olympics. Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu had claimed silver in the Tokyo Olympics while wrestler Sakshi Malik bagged a bronze in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

Having been reduced to tears on her Olympic debut in Tokyo three years ago, it was a stunning turnaround for the 22-year-old from Haryana’s Jhajjar.

A pistol malfunction robbed her six precious minutes, putting her under pressure during the qualification event. It was found out that a lever in the pistol was broken, preventing the barrel from functioning smoothly.

Manu took ages to recover from that disappointment. In fact, sometime last year, Manu thought of giving up shooting and pursuing higher studies.

It was then that she dialled her former coach Jaspal Rana. The two agreed to work together again with Paris Olympics being the big target.

The rest is history.

“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,” Manu said on Sunday.