Following a shaky start by her rivals, 22-year-old Manu Bhaker produced an incredible performance to guarantee her place in the 10m women’s air pistol final. In the mixed team qualification round for the 10m air rifle event on Saturday at the Olympics in Paris, Indian shooters were disappointed. Additionally, Sarabjot placed ninth in the men’s 10m air pistol finals, just missing out on qualifying slots since there were less inner 10s competitors.
Bhaker scored 580, placing her third in the qualifications, while Hungarian star Veronika Major secured the top position with a score of 582. Rhythm Sangwan, the other Indian participant, finished the qualifications in 15th place with a score of 573. The final showdown is scheduled for Sunday. On the other hand, in the 10m air rifle mixed team qualification Ramita and Arjun Babuta finished in sixth place with a combined score of 628.7, while Elavenil Valarivan and Sandeep Singh ended in 12th place with a total score of 626.3.
Following Series 1, Manu Bhakar, the Haryana shooter, finished in fourth place with 97 points. She maintained her fourth place in the second series with another 97, continuing her strong play. Sangwan, meanwhile, finished in 26th place after a lackluster performance that included an 8. But Bhaker returned to the top two with an incredible 98 in the third series.
Despite a rare off shot of 8 in the fifth series, her only subpar performance in an otherwise exceptional qualification, Bhaker stayed in the race and eventually secured a place in the final.
Ramita and Babuta finished in fifth place with three shots left in the mixed team 10m air rifle challenge, just missing the medal round by 1.0 point. In the second relay, Babuta shot scores of 10.5, 10.6, 10.5, and 10.9. It was a solid effort. In the same set, Ramita scored 10.2, 10.7, 10.3, and 10.1, which enabled the team to enter the top eight. They tried their best, but they were unable to advance to the bronze medal round. China, Korea, and Kazakhstani shooters took the first three positions in the qualifier.
