“Let’s keep fighting till the last shot” – Manu Bhaker reveals the mantra behind mixed-team bronze medal

Manu Bhaker, Sarabjot Singh win bronze, securing India’s second medal at Paris 2024 Olympics. (Pic Courtesy: X: @India_AllSports)

Manu Bhaker won her second bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, combining with Sarabjot Singh to beat the South Korean pair of Lee Won-ho and Oh Ye-jin in the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team event. After both started poorly, India won four rounds in a row (2 points for each) to set up a commanding 8-2 lead that they never relinquished. South Korea pulled it back to 10-6, but scores of 20.5 and 20.8 took India to the brink of glory.

Again, Korea came back, especially in a scarcely believable 12th round, where they overhauled India’s tally of 20.8 with 21.0. It was almost ironic then that India finally clinched the medal with a score of 19.6, to which the Korean response was only 18.5.

With both shooters’ scores tallied, a total over 20 is usually enough to win most rounds. India went past that benchmark nine times in 13 rounds, including a 21.2 (21.8 is the perfect score) in round 2. Oh had beaten Manu to gold in the individual event, while Lee had taken fourth in the men’s individual competition.

Sarabjot had missed out on a place in the individual final in agonising fashion, finishing ninth – only the top 8 got through. But he more than did his part in the mixed-team event, picking up the slack on the rare occasions when Manu faltered.

“It feels great,” said Sarabjot afterwards. “There was a lot of pressure. But the crowd was great.”

Manu will have an opportunity to go for a hat-trick of medals in the women’s 25m pistol competition, but for now, she was ready to soak up the acclaim of a second bronze. “I feel really proud,” she said, as a smile gradually spread across her face, replacing the look of stern concentration that accompanies her to the range. “There is a lot of gratitude. Thank you for the blessings and love.”

India had missed out on a spot in the gold-medal match by just a point, with both Manu and Sarabjot producing one average series (95) each to tally 580 points. Turkey (582) and Serbia (581) just edged past to contest the gold medal. But Manu and Sarabjot overcame that disappointment to ensure that there was no loss of focus while going for the lesser medal.

“We could only control what we could,” said Manu of the poor start to the bronze-medal match. “We came here saying let’s try our best. However it goes, we’ll accept that. Let’s keep fighting till the last shot.”

And they did. As a result, India and the shooting contingent can savour a second medal in Paris.

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