Manu Bhaker, Sarabjot Singh create history, win India’s first ever Olympic medal in 10m Air Pistol mixed team event

Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh created history in Paris as they won India's first Olympic medal in 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team event. The duo won the bronze medal at Paris Olympics 2024 beating Republic of Korea by 16-10. Bhaker became the first athlete of independent India to win two medals in Olympic history. 

In 1900 Paris Games, British-origin Norman Pritchard won two silver medals for India. He won silver medals in men's 200m and men's 200m hurdles events. 

Bhaker became the fourth Indian athlete to win two Olympic medals after Pritchard, Sushil Kumar and PV Sindhu. 

Manu starts well

For most of the bronze medal match, Bhaker carried Sarabjot against the Republic of Korea duo Wonho Lee and Ye Jin Oh. Sarabjot started with an 8.6 shot whereas Bhaker opened her account with 10.2 They lost the first two points and then came back well with 10.7 and 10.5 for Bhaker and Sarabjot respectively. They won eight consecutive points even though Sarabjot shot a 9.6 in the fifth round.

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Sarabjot finds form

Sarabjot faltered again and shot a 9.4 but Bhaker made up for it with a 10.6 get two more points. Bhaker made a rare error with her eighth shot of 8.3. Towards the end, Sarabjot gained momentum whereas Lee struggled to score high. The Indian duo was below par with their 11th shot with a combined score of 19.3. They conceded two more points before scoring the winner.

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Manu reacts after the historic win

Manu revealed the coversation 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 lot of gratitude, thanks for all the blessings" said Bhaker after the one-sided victory.

"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.

 

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