India’s shooting sensation Manu Bhaker has secured her place in the women’s 25m pistol final at the Paris Olympics, marking her third final appearance in the Games. On Friday, Bhaker achieved this milestone by finishing second in the qualification round with an impressive total of 590 points, just behind Hungary’s Veronika Major.
Bhaker began her precision round with a rocky start, managing only two perfect 10s in her first five shots. Demonstrating resilience, she quickly turned her performance around, stringing together five consecutive 10s to finish the series on a high note.
Her upward performamce continued into the second series, where she started strong with three 10s, ultimately scoring 98 points for that segment.
She nearly delivered a flawless performance in the third series, hitting nine 10s, with her only blemish being a final shot that scored a 9. This solid showing left her in third place at the end of the precision round, totalling 294 points and narrowly missing the top position due to inner 10s.
Competing alongside Bhaker, her compatriot Esha could not find her rhythm early on, posting scores of 95 and 96 in her first two series. However, she finished the round on a strong note, achieving a perfect score of 100 and concluding her precision effort in tenth place.
In the rapid round, Esha started well but was hindered by a series of lower scores, tallying 97 and 96 in her first two attempts. In her final series, despite hitting eight 10s, two lower scores of 9 and 8 brought her total down to 97 points.
Conversely, Manu excelled in the rapid round, launching her campaign with a perfect score of 100 in the first series. She maintained her momentum in the second series with four 10s from five shots. A continued display of excellence saw her score another 10s in the closing series, securing her position in the final.
Manu Bhaker will compete for the gold medal on August 3 at 1:30 PM IST, as she looks to continue her remarkable Olympic journey.
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