Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh made history in Paris as they won India's most memorable and first Olympic medal in 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team event. The star duo won the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics 2024 with a stunning victory against the Republic of Korea. They defeated them 16-10. This medal was more historic for Bhaker as she became the first Indian athlete to win two medals in a single edition of the Olympics since independence. The last time an Indian athlete did this was back in the 1900 Paris Games when British-origin Norman Pritchard won two silver medals while representing India in men's 200m and men's 200m hurdles events
PM Modi and Cricket fraternity hail Manu Bhaker
Another big milestone that Manu Bhaker achieved with this is that she became the fourth Indian athlete to win two Olympic medals after Pritchard, Sushil Kumar, and PV Sindhu. From Prime Minister Narendra Modi to big names in the cricket fraternity like Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir hailed massive praise for Manu Bhaker. Even the star wrestler Bajrang Punia congratulated the shooting duo.
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Manu reacts after the historic win
Manu revealed the conversation she had with Sarabjot going into the Games and said that they decided to continue fighting till the end.
"I'm feeling really proud and there is a lot of gratitude, thanks for all the blessings. Actually we can't control (what the rivals will do), we can do what is in our hands, me and my partner thought let's just try our best and we will keep fighting till the end" said Bhaker after the one-sided victory.
For the majority of the bronze medal match, Bhaker had to carry Sarabjot against the Republic of Korea pair Wonho Lee and Ye Jin Oh. They lost the first two points, but then came back strong with 10.7 and 10.5 for Bhaker and Sarabjot, respectively. Sarabjot started with an 8.6 shot, and Bhaker started with 10.2. They won eight consecutive points despite the fact that Sarabjot shot a 9.6 in the fifth round. Bhaker overcame Sarabjot's previous shortcomings to score two more points with a 10.6 and a 9.4 respectively. With her eighth shot of 8.3, Bhaker made an uncommon error. Lee struggled to score high, but Sarabjot gained momentum toward the end. With a combined score of 19.3, the Indian team's 11th shot was below par. Before they scored the winning point, they gave up two more points.
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