MANU BHAKER: How Many Olympic Medals can SHOOTING-CRUSH bring?

 TARGET TOKYO

MANU BHAKER (Indian Air-gun Shooter)

Born: 18^th February, 2002

Home: Goria Village, Haryana

Handedness: Right

Master Eye: Right

Personal Coach: Jaspal Rana

MANU BHAKER

Aiming for Olympic 2021

Multi-talented Manu:

Manu Bhaker is an Arjuna Awardee (2020) Indian air-gun shooter from Jhajjar district, Haryana. In 2018, at the age of 16, Bhaker became the youngest Indian shooter to clinch a gold medal at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup. She sealed her Tokyo Olympic spot for Indian shooters with a fourth-place finish at the Munich World Cup.

Manu Bhaker born to Ram Kishan Bhaker (A chief engineer at the Merchant Navy) and Sumedha (a school teacher) and in her school life she played tennis, skating and boxing and excelled in ‘thang ta’, the armed combat part of the Manipuri martial art “Huyen langlon” and won national medals. The ‘thang-ta’ aspect of huyen langlon can be practiced in three ways: ritual, demonstration, and combat. The first way is related to tantric practices and is entirely ritualistic in nature. The second way consists of a spectacular performance involving sword and spear dances. These routines can be converted into actual fighting practices. The third way is the true combat application which Bhaker practiced until she got her pistols.

Journey From Rio to Tokyo:

Bhaker started with her pistols after Rio Olympic, 2016 and honed with it in a short span of time. At the 2017 national shooting championships, Manu Bhaker stunned Olympian and former world No. 1 Heena Sidhu, shooting a new record score of 242.3, incidentally breaking Sidhu’s record to beat her in the 10m Air Pistol final. Then she added a silver medal in her CV at the Asian Junior Championships, 2017 and it was her first international success.

Bhaker has been selected for three events in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. She will be representing India in both Women’s 25m pistol and in her pet 10m pistol along with Rahi Sarnobat (25m) and Yashaswini Singh Deswal (10m). She will also field in the mixed team 10m Pistol along with Saurabh Chaudhary.

The 16-year-old Manu became the first shooter from India and the first female athlete from India to grab a Gold medal at the Youth Olympics games, 2018. Also she won many medals of which 2018 Commonwealth Games Gold medal (she shot a new games record there), 2019 ISSF World Cup Gold medals along with Saurabh Chaudhary bring her in the spotlight and thus based on her performance she secured her seat towards Tokyo.

Tokyo Dreams:

When she was asked about the pressure on her on participating three events in Olympic, 2021 she said firmly, “I have been shooting in three events at the international level for the past three years. Why would be there any pressure on me!” “Having said that, on the preparation front, it doesn’t change anything as I have always preparing for three events,” Manu told TOI. “I get up at 6 in the morning and reach the range at 8.30 am. I am home at 3.30 and have my physical sessions followed by my training with the psychologist and then I go to bed by 9.30 pm,” the Haryana girl said about her schedule.

Shooting is one of the biggest prospect for India in Tokyo Olympic 2021. Expectation is high on Bhaker as she consistently performed in the past three years at the international stages. She is India’s one of the medal favourites for the upcoming Olympic, 2021.

MEDAL TALLY

Summer (Youth) Olympics

year	Venue	Event	Medal
2018	Buenos Aires	10m air pistol women	Gold
		Mixed team 10m air- pistol	Silver

Junior World Cup

Year	Venue	Event	Medal
2018	Sydney	10m air pistol women	Gold
	Suhl
	Sydney	Mixed team 10m air pistol
	Suhl

ISSF World Cup

10m air pistol women

Year	Venue	Medal
2021	New Delhi	Silver
2019	Putian	Gold
2018	Guadalajara	Gold

Mixed Team Event: 10m Air Pistol

Year	Venue	Medal
2021	New Delhi	Gold
2019	Putian
	New Delhi
	Beijing
	Munich
2018	Guadalajara

Will Olympic Medals be added to the above list after Olympic, 2021?

The hopes are very much alive amidst the Indians. Now, pray for the best!

An article by ANIK CHAKRABORTY

Watch MANU BHAKER on our YouTube Channel