A calm and composed Manu Bhaker scripted history to become the first Indian athlete in post-independence era to win two Olympic medals in a single edition of the Games as she combined with an equally unruffled Sarabjot Singh to clinch the 10m air pistol mixed team bronze here on Tuesday.
The Indian pair defeated the Korean duo of Lee Wonoho and Oh Yeh Jin 16-10 to earn the country its second medal at Chateauroux’s shooting range.
Twenty two-year-old Bhaker had earlier bagged the bronze medal in the women’s 10m air pistol event at the same venue on Sunday, wiping off the terrible memories of a horrendous Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020.
Before her, British-Indian athlete Norman Pritchard had won two silver medals in 200m sprint and 200m hurdles at the 1900 Olympics but that achievement had come in the pre-Independence era.
While it is a massive achievement for women’s sport in the country, the medal is also redemption for Sarabjot, who had failed to make the men’s 10m air pistol final, finishing ninth on Saturday with a score of 577.
“I’m feeling really proud and there is lot of gratitude, thanks for all the blessings,” said Bhaker after the match, which the two young Indians played with remarkable poise to make it a one-sided contest.
“Actually we can’t control (what the rivals will do), we can do what is in our hand, me and my partner thought let’s just try our best and we will keep fighting till the end,” said Bhaker, who could not even qualify for this event at the Tokyo Games alongside Saurabh Chaudhary, finishing seventh.
Ambala shooter Sarabjot, who passed through a difficult phase trying to come to terms with the disappointment of the individual competition just three days back, said he was under a lot of pressure to perform.
“I’m feeling good, the game was very tough and there was a lot of pressure, I am very happy,” said the 22-year-old Sarabjot, who comes from a farming family.
The Indians started on the wrong foot with Sarabjot’s opening shot fetching a poor 8.6, while Bhaker shot 10.2 for an aggregate of 18.8. The Koreans aggregated 20.5 to take the opening round and open a 2-0 lead.
In mixed team events, the pair that reaches 16 points first wins the medal.
Down 0-2, Bhaker’s consistency came to the fore and it rubbed off on Sarabjot as the pair took the next four rounds to take their tally to 8-2.
Bhaker had just three shots below 10 in the entire contest which lasted 13 rounds.
It was an uphill task for the Koreans who succumbed to pressure and could not match their rivals losing 16-10.
