Paris Olympics 2024: 'Manu Bhaker Will Strike Gold In The Final', Predicts Legendary Shooter Jitu Rai

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Manu Bhaker gave the Indian shooting contingent a reason to smile by qualifying for the final of the 10m Air Pistol Women event on day one of the Paris 2024 Olympics Shooting competition at the French National Shooting Centre in Chateauroux. Bhaker's impressive qualifying score of 580 earned her third place in a field of 44 competitors.

She will join the top eight, including Hungary's Veronika Major, who topped the field with a score of 582, in the final on Sunday. This marks Bhaker’s first Olympic final appearance.

Her consistent performance throughout the 60-shot qualification round brought a wave of confidence to the Indian camp on a day marked by near misses. Bhaker remained above the cut line for the entire duration of the event.

Unfortunately, her compatriot Rhythm Sangwan narrowly missed the finals, finishing 15th with a score of 573, just four points short.

Indian shooting veteran Jitu Rai was full of praise for Bhaker’s performance. "Manu delivered a very good performance," he said. "She has a lot of experience and has played in many big competitions. I am very happy with her performance."

The world championships and Asian Games medalist expressed strong confidence in Bhaker's medal prospects. "I have 100% medal hopes for Manu Bhaker," he remarked. "She is hopeful of winning gold, and with the way she has been training for the Paris Olympics, I believe gold will come. Manu Bhaker is not a new shooter; she has a lot of experience and the country is proud of her. She gained valuable experience in the Tokyo Olympics, and that will help her in Paris."

Earlier both Indian pairs in the Mixed Team 10m Air Rifle event, could not cross the qualification hurdle. Ramita and Arjun Babuta fought hard to shoot 628.7 and finish sixth in the 28-team field, as the top four scores (China, Korea, Kazakhstan, Germany) made it to the gold and bronze medal matches respectively. Olympian Elavenil Valarivan and Sandeep Singh, the second Indian pair in the field, shot 626.3 to finish 12th.